Predestination
by Lans13
Summary: AU - Kakarott was sent to Earth and killed almost every human. The bloodthirsty saiyans sold the planet and abducted the human survivors, transported them to one of their colonies, where they are forced to work as slaves. Bulma is alive and trying to find a way to escape. In order for her plan to succeed, she is searching for a way to get to Vegetasei first.
1. Chapter 0 - Prologue

**I'm back with a new story, I hope you will like it. It will be a BV story eventually, but I plan to make the saiyans pretty dark, just like I pictured them in my previous one-shot: Christmas Carol.**

Predestination

Chapter 0

Prologue

**T**he air was hot and it had a high humidity, making it hard to breath. Bulma was also sure, that it had a little less oxygen in it, compared to what they had on Earth. It reminded her of the air on high mountains. It was dark around her and it was hard to make out the objects with the small light what was provided by the torches hung on the wall. She sighed; it was already a year ago, that she was transported to this planet and she was working as a slave in one of the gold mines. At nights, sometimes she still had nightmares and saw how people got slaughtered on Earth. She was lucky enough to escape and she was dumb enough to hope that once the small boy returned to Vegetasei, they were saved. She had no idea that the boy only went back to report that the planet has been cleaned out from most of its original habitants and it was ready for sale. She remembered how shocked she was, when he arrived again with four other monsters and they gathered some of the survivors into a spaceship, while killed the rest. Again, she had luck on her side as she was alive and dropped on Aoi-sei. At least she still had her life, even though her freedom was lost. It wasn't just that, but she also lost her parents and friends. She became friends with a girl called Chichi and there were also some other people living with her, but many had died as they were not cut out for this kind of hard work. The original inhabitants of Aoi-sei were humanoid, with the basic difference that they had purple hair and pointy ears. Also, they were more durable as humans and during the saiyan invasion; they were already used to this labour. Saiyans did three different things with planets; sold them, destroyed them or invaded them. Mostly they never bothered with invasion, unless the planet was extremely valuable; like this one, which had a gold mine. She heard that they also invaded around 10-12 other planets, where they also enslaved the original population to work for them. They had no choice, everybody who opposed the saiyans, were killed off instantly. Saiyans never bothered with prison or other punishments. Disagreeing with their order meant death. In case the culprit was lucky, it was instant, while at other cases saiyans enjoyed torturing them, until they begged for death. Bulma hardly ever saw a saiyan since she arrived, as they only got here to transport back the gold to Vegetasei. In case they felt like the mined gold was not enough and the workers were not working hard enough, they remained for a few days, "supervising" their work.

**F**inally Bulma managed to get out from the tunnel and the bright sunlight made her eyes water. She dropped a metal piece on the ground and sit down, trying to get her breathing under control. The environment was almost completely destroyed around the mine, the ground was bare and as far as she could see, there were no trees. She heard that there are animals, but they lived far away in the woods and only the hunters dared to approach them. The settlement was self-supplying; some slaves worked on the fields, to farm. It was mostly the tasks of the women, as they were not as sufficient in the mines as men. Just like humans, the Aois' stronger gender was men.

"What are you doing?" Gale asked, who was one of the shift leaders from Aoi.

He was about 30 years old with long purple hair and strong body. His red eyes were piercing, searching for anything out of the place. Saiyans nominated 3 shift leaders it total, who were accountable for the work to be completed. They had a tight schedule in order to mine the sufficient amount of gold. Even though shift leaders had some privileges (like they had their own houses and received an extra amount of food each months), Gale was supportive and never threatened them with whip, unlike his other two "partners". The reason why they had to make sure the work is done was easy; in case they failed the deliver the goal, the saiyans killed all three of them and appointed new ones. It was a cruel way to make sure, those individuals terrorised their own race. Also, it spared them manpower as they left Aoi without any saiyan supervision. Even so, when they came, people were afraid and with every right. Sometimes, saiyans picked up a random guy and simply killed him off, just for the fun of it.

For months Bulma had trouble to differentiate between the inhabitants of Aois, as apart from their different hair-length, they looked the same. As she got used to them, she saw small features on their face and managed to tell who is who.

"I'm working on the machine" She answered.

The _machine_ was actually an engine for the wagons. The mine had a railway system in most of the tunnels, but the workers had to push the wagons manually as all the engines broke ages ago and there was nobody, who could fix them. Almost all their scientists were killed during the invasion and the remaining few died soon after, as they were not cut out for physical work.

"There is no way, a little girl like you can fix something so difficult" Gale sighed.

"I'm already 11 years old!" Bulma answered and put her hands on her hips.

"Exactly" Gale laughed, but left, without arguing further.

Bulma got up and went to the engine, which stood just outside the mine, at the end of the tracks. She was almost done and once she fixed this, it would be much quicker to fix the other three. It's not like she was an average kid; she always hung out in her father's lab and learned many things from him, when he was still alive. She shook her head; she had to focus on work, there was no time to get depressed over something, what she couldn't change. Or can she? She remembered on the legend of the Dragon Balls, but that was just a myth, wasn't it? There is no way that they could be real; capable of fulfilling any wish… And even in case it was true, the Dragon Balls were on Earth and she was on Aoi-sei, with no hope of ever going back. She was glad, that the saiyans didn't destroy her planet and they decided that it was valuable enough to sell. At least she still had her home planet on some level. Again she shook her head and focused on her work. Her clothes were already full with grease, but it didn't matter as everybody had dirty garments on. As a slave, she only had a brown trouser and a white T-shirt, which was rather grey by now. She had boots, but as the weather was warm, she took them off and walked barefoot outside the mine. Aoi-sei was the most similar planet to Earth, that's why the saiyans dropped the humans here. She heard that the gravity on Vegetasei was 10 times higher and most of the planets had similar high gravity.

"**I** miss my daddy" She heard Chichi whispering as they were sleeping later at night in their tents.

The children had their own sleeping quarter, which was made from several linen and it was tied to logs, which were deep in the ground. They were lucky that Aoi-sei had a long summer with a short autumn and spring, but still, sometimes the nights were cold and they shivered under the blankets. They had no electricity and torches were dangerous in a tent, so they had to sleep in complete dark.

"I miss mine too" She answered and grabbed her hand.

Chichi was one of the few children, who survived so far. Most of them died within weeks after they arrived, just like the elder people. Her father was a material artist and he trained her from a very young age, so at age 6, she was way stronger as a normal 6 years old.

"That boy…" Chichi began "who killed our families, he looked as young as me. How can somebody be so strong?"

"Saiyans are monsters. Their power is beyond anything, what I have ever heard of." She answered.

The real problem wasn't even the boy's strength, it was the fact that he turned into a great ape at full moon. One of the fighters, Roshi managed to destroy the moon, but he still lost the fight and had to pay for it with his life. Bulma remembered that she saw it in the news, as the military also tried to take the boy out, but it looked like he never even felt the bullets. Humanity lost against one single saiyan…

"Tell me again about the Dagon Balls!" Chichi asked.

She already heard the legend a million times, but she wanted to hear it again. It gave her hope, that she can have back her father one day.

**T**he next morning Bulma got up earlier and made her finishing touch on the engine. When the alarm woke up the rest of the settlement, she just turned on the machine and to everybody's utter surprise it was working.

"You really did it" Gale cried out, shocked.

"I told you I can do it!" Bulma grinned at him.

While she indeed told him that, she wasn't entirely convinced. For one, she didn't have proper tools and the parts were also limited. She was sure it will break within a few weeks, but even if they can use it for a few hours, they work will be so much easier. That was the day, when Gale pulled Bulma out from the mining duties and she was assigned to repair the tools and the rest of the engine. She couldn't believe how lucky she was, to have a special assignment as she wasn't cut out for physical labour either. Her palms were full with blisters and her arms with scratches and small bruises. Even so, she decided not to give up, she had to live for the sake of her parents, who saved her life by losing their own. For once, when the saiyans arrived a week later to get the gold, they were sure, that they managed to mine the required amount.

As soon as Bulma heard the noise of the cargo-ship, she knew that the saiyans were landing. She avoided ever going to their landing side, but she still wanted to know what was happening so she climbed on a rock and watched the happenings from there, hiding behind another one. Two saiyans stepped out from the ship. One was a huge bald man, who was called Nappa by the other, younger one, who had long raven hair and was only around 10 years old. His name was Radditz and he somehow reminded Bulma on the boy, who were sent to Earth. Maybe he was his older brother? Even though she lived there for a year, she knew hardly anything about the saiyans and only saw a couple of them.

"Quickly, load the ship!" Nappa called and looked at the slaves, who were standing around the cargo ship.

As the slaves loaded the huge boxes, Radditz inspected them one-by-one, making sure that all had the necessary quality of raw gold in it. It was a hard work to load the ship and it just made things worse, that the two saiyan watched them, sitting on the ground, doing nothing. With their power, the work could have been completed within minutes, while it took the others hours to finish it.

"I'm hungry, get me some food!" Nappa called.

"Right away!" Grey, one of the workers answered and he rushed off towards the kitchen.

The first time Bulma has seen them eat, she thought she was dreaming. They managed to consume as much food as 20 people and all that with an incredible speed. It was stunning, that even though they looked entirely human (apart from their tail), they were extremely different. Nappa began to chew on a piece of grass, while Radditz lied down and decided to take a map. The villagers were already prepared for the request to bring them something to eat, so within 20 minutes they placed a huge table for them and loaded it with plates full of food.

"It was about time!" Nappa grunted and hit Radditz between his ribs with his elbow.

"What?!" Radditz asked, sitting up irritated.

"The food is here, let's eat!" Nappa answered and pulled the table in front of them.

Again, Bulma watched them with awe. While they seemingly eat a lot, they were not fat, but rather muscular. Could their body really use up all of that nutrition?

"Why are you watching them?" Chichi whispered as the crawled next to her.

"I just have to know as much about them as possible."

"Why?"

"In order to escape one day."

"Escape? We don't even have a spaceship!"

"I know, I'm working on it. Right now I'm trying to find out their week spot. Everybody has one, so even though they seem invincible, they must have a weakness as well. They just must!"

While she sounded confident, she felt that their situation was hopeless and all her efforts were futile. But she was Bulma Brief, she wasn't ready to give up just yet! Then again, even if they escaped, where would they go? They cannot go back to Earth, it's already inhabited by aliens. Sure, she could try to find a new planet, but she might run out of fuel, wandering aimlessly in space and die out there. She knew saiyans were dealing with planets, maybe they had a database and she could find her new home there. It meant, that she will need to find a way to get to Vegetasei. She was sure, they had a laboratory there and even just getting a spaceship would be easier. But how could she get there? How could she convince any of the saiyans to take her with them? Also, how would she be able to endure the gravity on Vegetasei?


	2. Chapter 1 - Crash

**I'm already here with the new chapter! I hope you will enjoy it. I'm actually quite ahead with the story as I wrote a lot, since I published the first chapter (but need to polish it) so unless I get a writer's block, you will have an update every week. As usual, I would be really happy to get reviews! **

Chapter 1

Crash

**B**ulma fell to the ground, while she was desperately trying to catch her breath. Her lungs were on fire and her legs felt like rubber. If she wasn't only 13 years old, she would have suspected to get a heart attack. Damn it! She was stuck on Aoi-sei since more than 3 years and apart from making mining easier with repairing the tools and building some new ones, she has done nothing whatsoever, which would bring her closer to her freedom. To her utter dismay, she was actually training. She was never the athletic type and hated PE even in elementary school and now she was working out, like those monsters who called themselves saiyans. Sure, she had her motives; being able to endure the high level gravity on Vegetasei, but still… she hated it. She managed to build a belt which increased the gravity around her and slowly, she built up the stamina to withstand higher gravity. It took her a year, until she managed to get all the parts and she even had to steal some small pieces from the spaceship, when the saiyans arrived to get the gold. She was sure, nobody noticed it and anyhow, those were not crucial parts for the ship, but still, the saiyans wouldn't appreciate her actions to say the least…

**S**he was just about to get up, when she heard a big crush and soon smoke emerged from the woods. Despite her better judgement, she followed it and soon stumbled upon a small spaceship, which crash-landed on the planet. It made a big hole and she had to crawl down to the wreckage, otherwise she would have fallen on them. It wasn't the first time she had seen such a spaceship, the Boy also left Earth with one. Her assumption was, that these were the saiyans' battle ships. While it was only capable to transport one person, it was quicker as a cargo ship and more durable. Even so, this piece in question looked pretty beaten up. Bulma finally reached the bottom of the crater and tried to peek inside the machine. As she leaned closer, she was able to get out a form, but as the glass was cracked and even looked melted at some places; it was hard to see anything. She leaned back, trying to find some manual overwrite panel to open the door from the outside, but just then the door was kicked open and it was flying past her with an enormous speed. Had she been closer to the right, it would have taken her head off. Even so, she felt the wind caused by it and she froze there, shocked. Somebody was struggling out from the wreckage, who looked pretty beaten-up. He had raven hair and onyx eyes, just like the other saiyans, but those eyes looked even colder, compared to the others. It was hard to make out his features as blood was leaking out from his head-wound and most of his face was covered with it. It seemed like he was quite young, almost the same age as her. He wore the traditional uniform with the saiyan armour, but it was cracked at his chest and a whole chunk was missing above his right shoulder. Even his clothes were ragged and blood-stained. Though Bulma guessed, that some of that blood was not his own, as with such a huge blood loss he would have been dead by now. She had never seen a saiyan in such a bad shape and it was frightening to imagine his opponent's power. Who could take on a monster like him? Were saiyans not the strongest race after all?

**V**egeta was barely conscious during his way back to Vegetasei and when he crashed on Aoi-sei, first he assumed that he made it home. Reality only hit him, once he emerged from the ship and saw the he crater. On Vegetasei they had landing zones, which were made of special materials, able to handle the landing force and making sure the landing did no damage. Damn it! He was stranded on an alien planet and as he looked back at the spaceship, it was clear that he won't be able to fly with it. He was sure they will eventually find him, they must have seen the signal of his spaceship and even if the tracker was broken right now, somebody from the control room must have seen where it disappeared. The problem was rather, that he was in a bad shape; his last mission proved to be more difficult as he expected it. At the end he conquered the planet, but he lost his whole crew in the progress. Not that it was his fault, but still… As he stood up, he felt light headed and had to grab the ship for support. He looked around, trying to determinate, where he landed. He was near Aoi-sei, when he last looked at the navigation screen, maybe he landed there. That planet is fairly close to Vegetasei, so they will soon get him. He grinded his teeth, let go of the ship and tried to climb out of the crater. After the first two steps his legs gave out and he fall on the ground, only managing to block it with his hands and knees. As he was kneeling there, he felt that he was close to lose consciousness, so he balled his left hand and hit himself in his stomach, where he already sustained an injury. He cried out in pain, but smirked as he felt how the dizziness went away and the reality came closer. He managed to avoid fainting after all!

"Are you all right?" Bulma asked, causing him to crack his neck as he looked at her direction.

As he looked over the girl, he clearly saw that she wasn't an Aoi. Did it mean that he landed on another planet? That would be bad… Maybe… maybe she was one of the humans, who got transported here and he was after all on Aoi-sei. She looked like a human, in a bad shape. Her clothes were torn even though they were clouted many times and it was stained with grass, dirt and grease (?). The trouser was much shorter as it was designed and he could see her ankles, which were covered with bruises, just like her hands. Even her face was smeared with something.

"How dare are you talking to me?!" He snapped and despite all his pain, he managed to stand up.

"I just wanted to help, there is no need to be so rude!" She answered somewhat irritated.

Bulma had no idea, how he managed to stand up with all those injuries and the longer she looked at him, the harder it seemed for her to believe that he was still alive at all.

"Are you retarded? Do you have any idea, who I'm?" Vegeta asked, grinding his teeth.

Fuck! He was again close to fainting… He just couldn't let himself appear weak in front of her! He has to find a way to scare her off, so he can rest a bit. After a few hours of sleep, he will feel much better. Sure, he will need the healing tank, once he gets home, but his body was durable and it healed at an amazing speed.

"You are a saiyan, obviously. Even without seeing your tail, it's pretty clear, based on your armour and ship."

"I'm not just any kind of saiyan; I'm the Prince of all saiyans! I'm Prince Vegeta!"

"That explains your even worse attitude, compared to the others" Bulma said and after a short pause she added: "I'm Bulma."

"Don't you have work to do? You are supposed to be in the mines and not out here, wasting your time!"

"I'm on break"

Vegeta smirked. After all, he just managed to confirm that he was indeed on Aoi-sei, without asking it directly. He, the Prince, would never ask anybody for information. Sure, sometimes he was torturing others to find out something, but that was different; torturing was fun. To his utter shock, the girl was walking towards him and without any warning, she put his right hand over her shoulder and began to drag him along.

"Just what do you think, you are doing?" He cried out.

"I'm helping you out. You don't look like you are capable of getting out of here on your own!"

"I don't need your help, you filthy human!"

"But you do" Bulma answered and looked at him with a bright smile.

Was she crazy? He just told her who he was and despite that, she was helping him? Why? She must hate saiyans, they sold her home planet and enslaved her… not that he cared. He just failed to detect any logic behind her actions. Even with her help, it was painful and a slow process until they finally got out. Once they were over the rim of the crater, she let him go and both of them fell to the ground. As he fell on his stomach, it became hard to breath, due to his broken ribs. He gathered his remaining strength and rolled over to his back, letting out an involuntarily cry as he did so. He looked over at the strange girl and while she was sitting breathing a bit heavily, she looked like she had no intention of leaving him there. Just as he was plotting how to get rid of her, she jumped up and run away, shouting:

"I will be back right away!"

Yeah, like that was likely. Had he not been the prince, she might have even gotten back to the mine to notify the others to kill him. Sure, once the words were out, they would receive a severe punishment but Aois despised saiyans so much, that it would have been worth it. Not killing him though; that would clearly mean that his father would personally come here and kill them off one-by-one, with an extremely slow and painful death. Even the Aois were not that stupid to risk it. While he run this through in his head, he managed to get into a sitting position; leaning against a smaller rock with his back.

**A**s Bulma run back towards the settlement, she played with the idea, not to return to Vegeta. On the other hand, it just might be the chance, she was looking for. Maybe as a payment for her help, he would agree to bring her back to Vegetasei. With that, she would be one step closer to her goal. She grabbed a bucket, filled it with water and also took one of the medical kits before she rushed back to the saiyan. Vegeta looked at her irritated and there was so much hatred coming from his eyes, that she got goose-skin. She shook her head, deciding to focus. She filled a small mug with water and handed it over to him. Vegeta was seriously considering throwing it back at her, hitting her with the mug and causing her pain, but his throat was dry and it was almost 2 days ago that he had anything to drink. He looked at the water like he intended to set it on fire with his eyes, then pulled up the mug and drink all of its content with one pull. Bulma nodded and took the cup out of his hand and set it on the ground. She got out a cloth from her bag and dipped it into the bucket, making sure it was wet. Then without any warning, she pushed it to his head and began to wash away the clotted blood.

"What are you doing?" Vegeta snapped and grabbed her hand.

He had every intention of crushing her bones, but he had barely any strength left. Even so, she cried out in pain and as she pulled back her hand, he could see red markings around her writs, where he held it.

"I was just trying to help, you jerk!" She shouted, while she crawled back a bit.

"I already told you; I don't need your help! I don't need anybody's help!"

"You clearly do!"

They looked at each other and Vegeta wished to have his powers back. He would have gotten up and killed her, without any hesitation. But right now to much of his dismay, he had hardly enough strength to lift up his arm. He grabbed the cloth, what Bulma dropped when he caught her hand and cleaned his face. There was nothing more, what he could do at this state, but it clearly helped his authority not to have a bloody face. He felt her look on him and once again he wished to have back his powers. Right now he wouldn't even torture her; blasting her away could be just as much fun!

"So, what is your grandiose plan?" She asked, looking at him.

She was a bit surprised, that now that his face was clean, he looked quite handsome. His features were fine; there was no doubt that he was indeed royal.

"My plan?"

"How do you intend to get back to your planet? Your spaceship is beyond repair."

"They will find me, there is a tacker in the ship" He answered.

"Yeah?" She asked, then without further ado she descended to the wreckage again.

Vegeta had no idea, what she was doing; was she trying to salvage some parts? Why? It's not like she could use it. Maybe the Aois had a black market and she intended to sell it? Or exchange it for extra food? Was she really trying to steal from him?! Just as he reached this conclusion, he heard her shouting:

"The tracker is busted!"

"How do you know that?" He asked back, getting annoyed.

It seemed like she was ignoring him. He heard some cracking coming from the ship and a tearing noise and just as he thought about getting up and check on her, she appeared again, with a radio in her hand.

"I might be able to fix this" She looked at him, holding out the device.

"You?"

"I'm not an average girl, you know. I'm a genius!"

Yeah, that was very likely… Vegeta grinded his teeth again and decided not to continue the conversation. She went on blabbering, but after a while she finally shut up and got fully immersed in her tasks.

"I think it's done!" Bulma cried out half an hour later with a victorious smile on her face.

Vegeta took the device from her, feeling foolish for even trying to use it.

"Say, in case it's working, can I go back with you?"

"What?!"

This question startled him. Slaves were not usually found about the idea of living on Vegetasei. At the colonies they still had a kind of freedom as despite their tasks, they were more or less without any saiyan supervision, while on Vegetasei… let's just say they had no opportunity to slack off at all.

"I could be useful! I'm sure you have scientist, I could join them and help them repair spaceships or whatever."

"No way, you could be of any use!" He answered and pressed the button on the radio.

To his utter surprise, it was actually working and he was able to give the command centre his exact location. After they promised to send somebody within 30 minutes, they waited in silence. Bulma felt it awkward, while Vegeta was lost in his thoughts. He recalled his previous battle and tried to find out what mistakes he had made, in order to not to repeat them next time. He knew that mistakes could mean his death on a battlefield.

**A** spaceship landed within a few minutes and when a man got out, Vegeta stood up and began to walk towards him. Bulma felt like she was seeing a ghost. While Radditz looked similar to the Boy, this man looked exactly the same! Was he his father? He must be! Even so, the similarity was stunning…

"Can I come?" Bulma asked and began to follow the Prince.

"No, you are just a useless human trash!" Vegeta answered and punched her in the stomach.

He regretted this sudden move as he almost lost his balance and the light headedness returned, but as he heard her cry out in pain and saw her rolling on the ground, with tears forming in her eyes, he decided it was still worth it. It was such a shame, he still didn't have any strength to kill her…

"What about your ship, my majesty?" Falk asked bowing.

He was like a big lizard, who walked on two legs. His skin was greenish and his eyes were able to move at opposite directions, independent from each other. Falk belonged to a race called Lacerto, who had an advanced technology, so the saiyans kept some of them alive to work on Vegetasei as scientists. It turned out, the reason why Bardock arrived so soon was, that he was just on his way back to Vegetasei. He made a deal regarding a planet; he sold it for technology and needed Falk with him, to make sure the technology was indeed worth it. As they also heard Vegeta's distress signal, they landed on Aoi-sei, prior to going home.

"It's beyond repair" Vegeta answered and pushed the radio into Falk's hands.

He had no idea until that point, that he was still holding it. The spaceship was a small one, capable to hold 5 persons at max and it also had a small cargo holder. It had two seats at the front and three at the back section. Vegeta decided to take one at the rear section, he wanted to remain as far from Bardock and Falk as possible. He was in a bad shape and he wanted to hide it from them as much as possible.

"This radio…" Falk began and he inspected it with awe. "Who repaired it, Sire?"

"Some stupid human" Vegeta answered and was about to tell him to shut up, when he continued:

"It's impressive! I have never seen a solution like this! I wouldn't have been able to repair it without some spare parts…"

This caught Vegeta's attentions, despite his better judgement. Falk was a skilled scientist, one of the best actually. Sure, he was never the type, who acknowledged anybody's skill or strength, but it was no coincidence that Falk was the one, who accompanied Bardock as an advisor. Could it be, that the girl wasn't lying after all? But how? Humans had a primitive technology, that's why they never intended to place any of them among their scientists. Not that they were much better in mining; they bodies were too breakable… Vegeta grunted and got up. Bardock was just about to close the door, when he heard his steps and looked back.

"Prince Vegeta?" He asked, not quite sure, what to do.

"Step aside!" Vegeta called and went out on the door.

He smirked; Bulma was still there, grabbing her stomach. He stormed to her and by grabbing her arm, he pulled her up.

"Come!" He shouted.

He was way too weak to drag her along, it was a miracle that he was still able to stand at all. To his relief, there was no need to force her, she willingly followed him, without any objection. Bardock looked a bit surprised seeing Bulma, but quickly hid it, not to make Vegeta angry. The Prince pushed her into one of the chairs at the rear section, while he occupied the farthest one from her. Falk looked curious and he went over to Bulma and sniffed her. She pressed her lips together, not to make a sound, but she was struggling with a cry. The lizard-man looked terrifying, especially his eyes! Still, she had to endure it, in order to go back with them. She had a feeling, that Vegeta could change his mind in an instant and maybe even threw her out from the ship, even when they were already in space. Little did she know at that time, that it was Falk, who convinced Vegeta to bring her along.


	3. Chapter 2 - Scientists

**I'm back with a new chapter, I hope you will enjoy it. Reviews – as always – are welcomed **

Chapter 2

Scientists

**T**wo weeks passed since Bulma arrived on Vegetasei. She still remembered on Vegeta's shocked face, when she left the spaceship and was able to walk normally. He fully expected her to fall on the ground, unable to move. He wasn't the type, who would simply ask her about it, but Bardock did:

"How can you walk like this? I heard the gravity on Earth was not as high as here."

"I trained" She answered and prayed that she won't have to go into more detail.

She wasn't willing to confess her crime about stealing materials from spaceships. Luck was on her side as Nappa came to greet them and informed the others that the King wanted to see them right away.

"Hey Karris!" Bardock called and a man in his early twenties came out from a spaceship.

He was also a saiyan, with his shoulder-length raven hair and black eyes, but unlike the others, he only wore white overalls and a black T-shirt under it. He looked like a mechanic from Earth.

"Yeah?" He asked, still holding a wrench in his hand.

"Escort her to the lab, she will be one of the new scientists!"

Karris looked surprised, but with a shrug he nodded and asked Bulma to follow him. She obeyed, while Vegeta left with Bardock and Falk; they made their ways towards the throne room.

"You look like a human" Karris called as he looked over at Bulma.

"I'm a human. My name is Bulma."

"That would mean, that it wasn't Bardock who found you, but Prince Vegeta. That is extremely strange…"

"How so?"

"Let's just say, he never bothers to assess whether somebody has any value; he kills everybody. Sure, all the saiyans think that anybody, who is not strong, should die, but most of them are willing to capture some creatures for labour. Not the Prince."

"I guess he was in a bad shape to kill me" Bulma explained and looked at her wrist. It already turned blue and purple, where he grabbed her. "I guess I was lucky."

Karris didn't miss the bruise and he had to agree; she was indeed lucky to get away with only that. As they walked on the corridor and turned a few times at seemingly random places, Bulma gave up trying to memorize the route and turned to Karris instead:

"Are you a scientist as well? I though saiyans are just warriors…"

"Yeah" Karris answered with a sad smile. "I failed as a warrior and they assigned me to do repairs as a punishment. They though it will be more shameful then death, but in the end I somehow grown to like this task and I'm glad for it. I guess I might have hit my head too many times and I forgot what it means to be a saiyan."

Bulma was shocked and had to look for his tail, to make sure he was indeed a saiyan. As she saw it neatly folded around his waist, no doubt remained in her mind, but he was so… different as the rest of them! He almost sounded kind. How can that be? Karris followed her gaze and undid his tail to show her it's real. As he waved with it towards Bulma, she couldn't help it, she had to laugh. It was the first time since 3 years that she laughed and the cause of it was a saiyan! Who would have thought?

**S**ince she arrived to Vegetasei, her living conditions improved somewhat. She even received her own sleeping chamber, which wasn't more than a really small room, where her tatami took up most of the space and the only other furniture was a small wardrobe, where she had two sets of white overalls, which turned out to be the uniform for the scientists. During these two weeks she got used to all the Falk-like creatures, it seemed that his race was a popular slave kind among the scientists. The sleeping quarters were just opposite to the main laboratory so she only had to walk a few meters to get there. The laboratory was basically a huge space, divided to smaller workstations by working benches. Opposite to the entrance was the computer section, where they planned projects and run simulations. At the left side were the drafts and plans stored about the technologies, what the saiyans already treaded for planets or gold with other races. Most of them were stored in rolls in a huge cabinet, which covered the most part of the wall. In front of it, there were smaller and larger desks scattered, with various manuscripts placed over them. They were either there because they had to repair something and needed the plan or they were just about to build the prototype for it. At the right side was the actual manufacturing done. The whole wall was covered with various cupboards and boxes, filled with all kind of parts. In front of them were also working stations installed and most of the desks were filled with tools. They also had drawers and chairs and one had protective glasses on it as well. Right next to the door two huge boards were pinned on the wall, where they made the necessary calculations. They even had a small library with various books. The only problem was, that they were on different languages and by some, Bulma couldn't even recognize the letters. Currently eight scientists were employed and from those four were Racertos, two from a race called Avem, Karris was a saiyan and now Bulma joined them as the first human. The two Avem guys somehow reminded her of birds. They were about one meter high, had yellow skin with red spout. They had big black claws and instead of hair, blue feathers covered their heads. They looked so absurd, that it took some time until she was used to them. But at least their eyes didn't move separately from each other! That, really crept her out and she seriously doubted, she can get used to that.

"Hey, Little One! Come over for a second!" Craig, one of the Avem scientists called, looking at Bulma as soon as she entered the room.

She found it extremely annoying, that he called her little, when he was barely one meter high, but it seemed like this name stuck on her for a while. She walked over and looked at the scooter in his hands. It was the first prototype and so far they haven't been able to figure out, why it failed to work. It was the technology what Bardock bought, when he got them back on Vegetasei. Bulma already offered her help three days ago, when the machine was built, but Craig and Hawk (the other Avem) refused to listen to her. It was their project, they wanted to make it work. It seemed like now, that they only had a day until they had to present it to the King, they gave up on their pride and asked her.

"Let me see!" Bulma said taking out the scooter from his hand and removed the lid from its mechanical panel.

It was extremely annoying how Craig watched her every movement. She desperately tried to shut him out and immersed herself in the plans as she checked the device. She felt how Craig became more and more impatient, but it's not like she could hurry up with it. They definitely messed up something and she needed time to figure it out. Suddenly she decided to take it apart and as it fell on the desk in pieces, Craig called out in pain:

"Are you trying to ruin it?!"

"It's not working" Bulma snapped at him. "It's not like I can ruin it!"

Craig cursed, but remained silent for the time being. After a few minutes he got up from the chair and walked around the lab, from one wall to the other. After half an hour, when Bulma put the device together and turned it on, it seemed to work. At least she could see a number when she looked at Craig. That was supposed to be his power level. Suddenly the device peeped and as she followed the small arrow in the screen, she looked at the door. There was nobody there. Could the device malfunction? No! It was working just fine. The next moment Falk entered the room, meaning the scooter already detected his presence, before he was near enough to be visible.

"It's working!" She cried out and handed it over to Craig with a proud smile.

"Really?" He asked and placed it on his ear.

After some additional testing, he accepted it as a fact and he was able to present it to the King in the afternoon.

"**Y**ou are lucky to finish it in time" King Vegeta said, when Craig handed over the device and explained him how it worked.

Craig bowed so low that his spout almost touched the ground. Regardless how many times he was in the throne room, he couldn't get used to it. It was even bigger than the lab, but it had hardly any windows, so the room was always in half-dark. The throne was at the opposite side of the huge wooden door and a long red carped led to it, with gold covered margins. Strong white marvel pillars held the ceiling, which was more than 6 meters above the ground. The throne itself was on a small scaffold, five steps leading to it. It was mainly red (it reminded Craig on blood) and despite its simple design, it looked authoritative and inspired fear.

"I heard you had issues with it" Vegeta smirked, as he stepped into the room.

"Well" Craig gulped, knowing that there was no sense to deny it "we figured it out at the end. I… I even delivered it a few hours earlier!"

"_We_? Just whose help did you require? I already told you, Falk is not there to correct every single mistake you make."

The Aven began to tremble from fear as he remembered that last time when he was here, the Prince burned both of his legs and he had nasty blisters for weeks and walking was so painful that his eyes watered. He got it, because he failed to repair a healing tank in time and Falk ended up helping him out, so he could complete it at all. Still… this time he was on time! The scooter was also working flawlessly! Why did he still feel the killer intent coming from the Prince, as he looked at him?

"I never asked Falk!"

"Don't test my patience" Vegeta cried out and pierced his shoulder through with a small energy beam.

Craig fell on his knees and began to tremble again. The injury was not serious, just a small hole, but it still hurt like hell. He saw how Vegeta raised his hand again (maybe to kill him?), but this time the King intervened:

"Stop it! I cannot replace them at the peace you are killing them off!

Vegeta cursed, but lowered his hand. He wasn't willing to argue with his father, until he was the King.

"I will ask you one last time" He looked at the shaking scientist "who helped you?"

"Bulma! It was Bulma, Sire!"

While it was unexpected, as Vegeta looked at Craig, he knew he was telling the truth. He was so terrified, that he would have confessed anything at this point.

"**I**t looks like for once you actually managed to get a useful slave" King Vegeta looked at his son, after they discussed the mass production with Craig and he left the room.

"Don't count your chickens before they are hatched!" Vegeta answered, deciding to keep the real reason in secret.

He couldn't even tell his own father, that he was just too beaten up to kill her. No way! He, the Prince of all saiyans couldn't show weakness in front of anybody. Anyhow, that way at least his father thought that he got somebody useful on purpose. He always complained about him killing of their slaves, but damn it! All the slaves were stupid, not worth to let them be alive. Nobody deserved to live, who wasn't powerful enough and that's why the saiyans prospered among all the races.

**W**hen Craig came back to the lab from the throne room, he was so shaken up, that he was unable to talk.

"It seems like the Prince was also in the room, when Craig presented the scouter" Hawk commented, while he was building the second scouter with Bulma.

"How do you know?" She asked, picking up a small screw.

"Let's just say, the King's cruelness is nothing, compared to that of his son's. You met him, you must know it as well."

"Are really all the saiyans like that?"

"What kind of question is that, coming from a girl, whose planet was sold? Mine was destroyed…"

"But Karris is different!"

"Just like he said; he must have hit his head one too many times. I really don't get him. Nobody does…"

Bulma was still thinking about this conversation, when she went to the landing zone, to get a box of new tools, the saiyans gathered from another planet. While the box was huge, it wasn't really heavy. The only problem was, that she could only see a very limited space in front of her and so after one turn, she bumped into somebody and dropped the box.

"Damn!" She called as the tools rolled away in every direction.

"Seems like I was in too much of a hurry!" She heard somebody laughing and as she looked over, he saw him; the Boy, who invaded Earth.

He has grown in the past 3 years, but his hair was so unique, that there was no doubt, it was him. She remained on the ground shocked, while he turned back the box and began to gather everything into it. After a while, she also picked up the tools, until he suddenly called:

"I know you! You are from Earth, right?"

"Yes, it seems like you didn't manage to kill me…" she answered bitterly.

"I guess it's good, what?" He asked and began to scratch the back of his head. "I mean if you are here, that must mean you are useful. We only keep the useful slaves here. I'm Kakarott, by the way!"

"How good for me indeed!"

"Are you angry with me? I mean sure I bumped into you, but see? I'm even helping to carry this!"

With that said, he put the box on his shoulder and began to walk toward the lab. She wanted to ask him, how did he know where she was going, but figured, it was her uniform. Where else would a scientist go?

"Of course I'm angry; you killed all those people!"

"Hey, they were weak and it was my mission. In case they had somebody strong, I could have died."

"Just because we are not strong physically, doesn't mean we are weak."

Kakarott stopped and looked at her confused.

"How else can you be strong?"

"Well… physical strength is not all! Also, my father told me, that the stronger people are there to protect the weaker ones, not to kill them!"

"Protect them?" He asked, even more confused.

"Yes! Power is not all about destroying things."

"For what else could we use it? Saiyans were meant to rule over the whole universe."

"That's just sick! Did you seriously felt no regret, when you killed them?"

Kakarott looked at her, like she has grown a second head. Just what the heck was she talking about? Weak people who are strong, power which is not for destruction… he has never heard anything so strange.

"You are a strange guy." He finally shrugged.

"I'm a girl, not a guy damn it!" Bulma cried angrily.

Was he totally out of his mind? Sure she had short hair and her breasts… they were not really growing yet, but still! She had no idea why he suddenly put down the box and she never expected him to touch her _there_.

"Wow, you are really a girl!" He cried out surprised.

Bulma felt how her face became red and before she could stop herself, she picked up a hammer from the box and hit him on the head. He cried out in pain and began to massage his head, while he looked at her with anger and hurt (?).

"Just what the hell did you do that for?" He asked.

"Can't you tell, that I'm a girl just by looking? Did you seriously had to… you know…"

She wasn't even willing to say out aloud, what just happened, it was outrageous.

"No, I can't." He answered sincerely and stopped rubbing his head.

Saiyans were indeed monsters. She just hit him with full force and he already seemed to be recovered. He stepped to her and took the hammer out of her hand saying:

"You are dangerous, you know."

"Me? I wasn't the one, who killed a whole race!"

"No, but you could have killed me."

"With that hammer, it's very unlikely."

"But it hurt!"

"Of course it did, it's a hammer after all!"

They looked at each other like they were considering jumping to each other's throat. Even so, Bulma didn't quite feel the atmosphere, what she felt when Vegeta looked at her. He seemed evil, while Kakarott appeared to be naïve. Just a young boy, whose parents never taught him what is wrong and what is right. Actually, they might have, but in all the wrong way.

"Killing people is wrong." She finally said.

Kakarott shrugged, put the box back on his shoulder and they continued to walk towards the laboratory.

**T**hat night, as Bulma was lying in her bed, she couldn't sleep as her thought were all around Kakarott. She assumed she will hate him, once they met; she hated him ever since she learned what was going on at Earth. Yet now, as they met, she felt nothing. She imagined he was the devil himself who possessed a small boy's body, but apart from the fact, that he never even sustained an injury from the hammer, he seemed normal. He wasn't the monster, she expected him to be. For the first time ever, she tried to see everything from his side; he was sent to Earth at a young age with the mission to destroy it. He never had any childhood at all, he was a warrior from birth. It's not like he had a choice or what was even sadder; he never even felt, that he could have a choice. Life on Vegetasei, being a saiyan, was all he ever knew. Just like the rest of them. She wasn't ready to make excuses for the whole race; the grown-ups were different. Even if they never had an option at the beginning, they must have seen how others lived! They must have known that the non-violent races also managed to survive, without destroying other lives around them. Yet they still continued to fight and so this lifestyle became their decision.

**As I was writing this, I just remembered how much I really enjoyed watching Dragon Ball. I like Z better (maybe partly because Vegeta is my favourite character), but DB has a unique atmosphere and it was so funny! :)**


	4. Chapter 3 - Reunion

**I hope you are appreciating that I keep my timelines with the updates. ****Here you go with the new chapter!**

Chapter 3

Reunion

**A** year passed since Bulma lived on Vegetasei and now finally after such a long time, she was able to see Chichi again quite unexpectedly. While she never mentioned her, she had an enormous compunction that she simply left her on Aoi-sei. She only had time to briefly inform her about her possible departure when she run back to the mine to get water for Vegeta, on the day he crashed. She asked her not to leave her alone, but she had no other choice. Getting to Vegetasei was the first step to escape. As she walked into the dining area, where the slaves had their meals, she again recalled their goodbyes. The place was the same area the saiyans used, but they had the right side of the place, while the slaves only had a small portion of the left side. It was almost as big as the laboratory, with a huge wooden door. The tables at the saiyans' side where round shaped, each with six-ten chairs. They were made of wood and had a rustic impression; they were durable but simple. There was no design, no frill, they simply served their purpose, with no intention of being decorative. Saiyans hardly ever used plastic for furniture, even though they were familiar with the material. The floor was covered with grey marvel, the walls were also greyish and bare. So far Bulma hasn't seen any painting, sculpture or other décor items. She had the impressions saiyans were not familiar with those. Even so, the castle was impressive with its huge rooms and its simplicity. The slaves' tables were long and rectangular, with benches at each side. The food distribution system reminded her of prisons; they had to pick up a tray and they had to go over a long counter, where two slaves gave them out their plates, filled with food. Compared to prison though, the food was good and nutritious and the warriors received more than just a few plates. At the end of the counter they could fill their jugs with water from huge barrels. Bulma was not really paying attention while she ate, so she was startled when suddenly Chichi appeared in front of her and she also sit down.

"Chichi?!" Bulma cried, jumped up and hugged her. "How come you are here?"

"They were short on kitchen staff and as I was one of the people who cooked on Aoi, they brought me here. I couldn't believe how lucky I was!" She smiled and hugged her back.

She was wearing a light-brown shirt with buttons on the front and white trousers with sandals. She also had a white head scarf and her long dark hair was in ponytail. Compared to the dirty clothing she wore on Aoi-sei, she looked rather good.

"I'm so sorry, that I left you there…" Bulma said.

"Don't worry, I understand! It's not so bad anyway, even for those, who are working in the mines. Your machines are really helping."

"I'm just worried, what will happen, when they break. I need to find an excuse soon to go back and do some maintenance. Anyhow, since when are you here? When can we talk?"

"I just got here this morning, but I'm on kitchen duty until the evening. I might be able to sneak out later."

"No, I will come here, that's better. As a scientist, I can go almost anywhere in the palace. Well, not to the west wing, but I don't mind that; I have no interest in the royal family's quarters."

"I'm so glad that you gave me the gravitation belt when you left, it was useful" Chichi smiled. "I trained every day, hoping that I might end up here."

She quickly removed it from her waist and gave it back to Bulma, who put it in one of the huge pockets of her overall. While it looked nothing more as a simple belt, it would be dangerous in case the saiyans found out its real function. It was highly unlikely as Karris was the only one from them who knew anything about technology, but the fact remained that some parts were borrowed from a spaceship.

"I'm glad that I had the time to give it to you" Bulma smiled back, remembering, how she suddenly removed it from her waist and pushed it into her hands.

They only had time to speak, until Chichi was eating her meal, so she tried not to hurry without catching any attention. She was really happy to see Bulma again, it was almost a whole year ago, that she talked with her. She was 10 years old, but already mastered cooking at a professional level. She was always interested in it, because even as a little girl her dream was to become a perfect wife. She had hardly any memory about her mother as she died when she was 2 years old, but she still remembered that her meals tasted the best! Even though his father hired famous chiefs, none of their dishes tasted quite the same. Cooking for somebody must be one of the most wonderful things on the world, but right now her future didn't look very bright.

With the promise that Bulma will visit her in the evening, she went back to the kitchen, to do the dishes. It was quite a hard task as saiyan really eat a lot. First, when she saw the amount of food they were preparing, she had no idea, why they needed so much. Then she recalled how much the saiyans on Aoi-sei demanded, when they came for the gold and it all began to make sense. The kitchen was quite modern and almost as big as the dining area itself. They had a dozen of stoves next to each other and at the opposite side they had almost as many washing stations. Some were for dishes, some for washing vegetables or meat. Between them was the preparing counter, with neatly organised drawers and built-in cabinets. It seemed, just like they had popular races in scientists, they also developed a preference regarding kitchen staff. The first race was humanoid, with the difference that they were completely bold and their eyes were yellow; they were the Hallows. The second was a race called Yami, with wolf-like creatures. They were almost two meters high and their arms and legs were covered with grey hair. Their eyes were red, their ears pointy, just like they teeth. Despite the scary looks, they were rather weak and peaceful. Chichi also discovered two elderly women with grey hair and it turned out they were the bosses and had the responsibility to run the place smoothly. First she though they were from Earth, but later she learned that they were also aliens, belonging to a race called Chovesh. Chichi sighed and began to wash up the dishes, thinking, that this is like a special training to be the best housewife! She still hasn't given up on that dream, though right now she had little chance to ever get married. After half an hour her palms were completely red from all the work, but she shrugged it off and went out to clean the tables.

"Don't tell me, lunch is already over!" She heard a voice and as she turned around, she saw Kakarott standing at the doorway.

She instantly recognised him and launched an attack towards him. He easily jumped away from her kick and so she crashed into the wall. She jumped up and tried again, but failed. Regardless how many times she tried to hit him, he easily deflected her punches. Finally, she gave up, fell to the ground and looked at him with wide eyes.

"Wow, you are quite good! Who are you?" Kakarott asked smiling.

"I'm Chichi" She answered and had no idea, what to do next.

She fully expected him to kill her for trying to hurt him, but he just smiled like an idiot. Just like Bulma, she was confused; she expected a monster and all she saw was a boy, who was the same age as she. How could he be responsible for all that destruction?

'I'm Kakarott" He said and without any warning, he helped her up, then touched her… there!

"Woa…" She cried out so loudly that she managed to hurt his sensitive ears and he backed off. "What do you think you are doing? Pervert!"

"So, you are a girl… I was right after all!" Kakarott said and had a goofy smile on his face.

"Did you have to confirm it by touching me… ?"

"Wow, you are just like Bulma! She was also pretty pissed when I found out she is a girl."

"You… you touched me there! What should I do? I cannot get married, as I'm not pure any more…" Chichi cried and as she fell to her knees, tears were flowing from her eyes.

"Hey, why are you crying?" Kakarott asked and run around her confused.

"Because… because…" She cried and was unable to finish the sentence.

After a few minutes she managed to gather herself a bit and answered:

"I cannot marry anybody now."

"Marry?" Kakarott raised his eye-brown.

Then it hit Chichi; there was one man, whom she could marry; Kakarott. He was the one who took her… purity… so he had to take responsibility. It wasn't ideal, she never planned to marry the man, who destroyed her home planet, but there was no other way.

"You have to marry me!" She called and stood up.

"Marry? Is it some kind of food?" He asked and before she could answer, he nodded: "Sure, I can do that, just stop crying!"

"Oh my…" Chichi blushed and covered her face to lessen her embarrassment.

"Are you ok?" He asked, and tried to peek at her, between her fingers.

Instead of answering, she just nodded, still covering her face.

"Say, is there any way you can get me some food?"

"Sure thing!" She cried out and disappeared in the kitchen.

While Kakarott sit down to a table, he seriously had trouble figuring out what just happened. This girl was even stranger than Bulma. She was trying to punch him, then she cried and now she was happy. He gave up trying to decipher the meaning of the whole encounter, as soon as she was back with 4 fully loaded plates.

"Can I have seconds?" He asked as he devoured all of the food.

"Sure!" Chichi answered smiling.

Maybe she was crazy for marrying him, but with Kakarott as a husband she will have plenty of opportunities to cook as he could eat a lot. She blushed as she imagined her older-self cooking, while his older version was sitting at the dining table, waiting for the meal to be ready.

"I'm full" He called and leaned back on the chair, patting his belly satisfied.

"You can come any time, I'm sure I can get you some extra food" Chichi winked at him.

"That sounds great!"

That was how their relationship began to develop and from that day on, Kakarott was an every-day guest in the kitchen. Despite everything, Chichi just couldn't hate him; he wasn't evil after all. She asked herself, whether she was crazy thinking this and came up with the conclusion that she might be. She heard love was supposed to make people crazy, meaning she must be really in love with him!

"**W**hat is this?" Kakarott asked as he stepped into the kitchen.

It was already way past dinnertime and all the other slaves went back to their quarters to get some sleep. This was usually the time, when Bulma came over and Chichi had the opportunity to talk with her.

"This is a board game called Hotels" Bulma answered.

She found it in one of the storage rooms a few days ago. It turned out that sometimes saiyans grabbed things from other planets about which they had no idea what it was used for and put it in one of the storage rooms. With time they either asked a scientist to figure it out or when they run out of space, they just threw it out. She also found a couple of cards, a shogi board and a photo album from Earth. Bulma was sitting on the ground with Chichi and they were just about to start a game. The game board was put down between them and some of the fake money was distributed. He came to them, crouched down and inspected the board and the pieces with interest.

"Do you want to play as well?" Chichi asked.

"Play?" Kakarott asked, not quite sure, what they meant, while he picked up the dice and licked it, trying to figure out whether it was edible.

He threw it back with a disappointed face and sniffed the fake money this time.

"Yes, play! Don't tell me saiyans have no board games!" Bulma called, trying to ignore his strange behaviour.

"I don't think they have."

"So what do you play? Do you play tag? Hide-and-seek?"

As Bulma continued to ask questions, it turned out, saiyan children never really played any games. They were either on missions or on trainings.

"Come on, let's show him how to play tag!" Chichi called, grabbing both of their hands and dragging them into the dining area.

The room was in the left wing of the palace, far away from all the other rooms and sleeping quarters. They had no need to worry about somebody overhearing them and none of the saiyans wandered around the kitchen anyway, unless it was lunch or dinner-time. Well, apart from Kakarott, who sometimes dropped by between meals as well, to get some extra food from Chichi.

"I have to catch you?" Kakarott asked, after they explained the rules.

"Yes" Bulma nodded.

"Ok…" He answered, not quite sure what the purpose of the whole thing was.

"It's not fair, you are too quick!" Chichi complained, after she tried to catch Kakarott for 5 minutes, without any success.

She was out of breath and perspiration appeared on her forehead. She already removed the head scarf and her apron, but those were not really responsible for her slowness.

"I might have a solution for that!" Bulma cried out with an evil smile and she disappeared.

Kakarott and Chichi exchanged a confused look, having no idea, what she was up to. Then, as soon as Chichi saw the gravity belt in Bulma's hand, she also began to smile.

"Just let me put this on you!" Bulma said, while she kneeled down and put the belt around him.

"What is this?" He asked, nudging the belt with his finger.

"Something, what will give us some advantage!"

With that said, Bulma turned on the belt and set it on the 4th level, meaning the current gravity increased 4 times around him.

"Woah…" He cried and he almost fell to the ground.

Chichi and Bulma both watched him struggle with a bright smile.

"My body feels heavy!" Kakarott commented, as he tried to get up.

It took him a few minutes until he figured out how much he was capable of physically with the belt turned on. Then the fun began; this time Bulma and Chichi quite easily managed to get away from him and he ended up being the one, who couldn't catch them.

"Can I keep it?" He asked after half an hour.

All three of them lie exhausted on the floor, trying to catch their breaths'.

"No, but you can come and play with us the next time and then you can have it!"

"Great!" He agreed and smiled.

By that time, all doubt disappeared from Bulma and Chichi regarding him. Kakarott wasn't evil, he just never learned what was wrong and what was right. Or at least he learned it all the wrong way.

**B**ardock was just crossing the royal garden, with his wife by his side. The palace had a huge garden, which held all kind of strange flora. At some places it was just grass and bushes, at others a whole variety of plants lived together. They walked on a pavement which led through the whole area, when Bardock suddenly stopped, seeing something unexplainable. Gine, his wife almost bumped into him, not expecting such a sudden halt. Following his gaze, she soon realised why he looked baffled and she was also trying to figure out the meaning of all. Kakarott was in the garden with six other saiyan children and they were chasing each other. Or actually, just one was chasing the others and they were jumping and running away from him. They were on a clearing, which also had some benches and it was a good relaxing spot for warriors, when they had a little bit if a time.

"You are slow Kale!" Kakarott teased him.

"Why, you little…" Kale shouted back and began to run towards him.

He was a year older than Kakarott, with short pointy hair. He was also a low class warrior, whose first mission was to destroy a planet. As Kale rushed towards Kakarott, he decided to jump when he was near, but Kakarott ducked and he ended up catching another saiyan; Edivia. Edivia was a 6 years old girl with shoulder-length hair, who was a middle-class warrior.

"That's not fair!" She cried out and began to chase the others.

"Time out!" Tatsoi called and he walked over to a bench and sit down, catching his breath.

He was 9 years old and an elite. Even so, after three hours of playing tag, he was completely beaten.

"Say, what is this?" Bardock asked, looking down at him.

"It's something called tag" Tatsoi answered, not even bothering looking up at him.

"Tag?" Bardock asked back and exchanged a confused look with Gine.

"Kakarott said it's some kind of game, children played on Earth. But I have no idea, how they could play such a trying game, with their power levels."

"I never knew he spoke with humans, when he was on Earth" Gine commented, looking at Kakarott.

"Neither did I. It's bad enough that it took him 5 years to return, but if the King learns he was wasting his time talking with the inhabitants… that will be bad" Bardock said.

Little did the saiyan children knew, that human tag was nothing like the one, what they played. They were running at high speed, jumping up meters high to avoid the tagger and sometimes even kicking him in the face, before running away. It was a rough game, nothing like human tag. The only reason why Kakarott could play it at a "normal" level with Chichi and Bulma was due to the gravity belt. On the other hand, he could also play it with the other saiyan children as they had similar abilities.

"Let's play dodge-ball!" Edivia suddenly called and after a cheering agreement the children split into two groups and as Tatsoi run back as well, he grabbed a ball.

Bardock and Gine looked bewildered how the children were trying to hit each other with a ball. Seriously? Even if they manage to hit each other, it's not like it would hurt. Then why?

"Hey, just what the hell are you two doing?" Pease stepped to them.

He was one of their teammates and they were often sent on missions together.

"We are coming!" Bardock answered.

Pease also threw a baffled look at the kids, but decided not to overthink it as they already had their assignments and had to be in the hangar within minutes to departure with their spaceships towards the next target.

"Crap, we have to go or we will miss dinner!" Edivia called.

They dropped a ball and began to run toward the dining hall. When they arrived and took their food, Kakarott's eyes met Chichi's and they smiled at each other. Somehow it looked like Kakarott was not just friends with her and Bulma, but he also made friends with the saiyan children. Prior to playing with them "Earth games", Chichi never saw him together with others and in general, children never really looked they had friends at all.

**I know, this chapter had no Vegeta in it and I'm sorry for that. I also missed the guy :D However I thought this is really important from the story perspective, so I just had to write it like this. However I might (emphasis on might) post an extra chapter later this week, as I'm making quite a good progress on the story in the background. We will see! I appreciate all the reviews, favourites and follows so far, please keep this good habit, it really makes my day and motivates me even more to write the story!**


	5. Chapter 4 - Being a saiyan

**As an exception, I'm posting a new, additional chapter this week. I'm really making good progress in the story so far, so I can allow it and still make sure to have a new chapter posted every week. This time, I'm moving ahead a bit Bulma's and Vegeta's relationship **

**As usual, please give me some feedbacks and help me become a better writer!**

Chapter 4

Being a saiyan

"**T**hat's it, I cannot concentrate, when you keep interrupting me in every minute!" Bulma cried out, just as Hawk was walking towards her with a blueprint.

Hawk stopped, watching her jumping up from her computer, grabbing another one and rushing out of the lab. Falk had to smile, thinking how his workload decreased since her arrival. Until that point, he was the most knowledgeable from all of them, but she was actually better in some areas. He had a lot of conversation with her and they exchanged their knowledge, resulting to gather an even greater understanding of science. While Bulma found his knowledge fascinating, he was equally surprised by hers. It looked like humans were not that primitive after all, despite their low level of technology.

As Bulma stormed out of the palace, she had no idea, where she was going. Her head was full of theories and plans, but she couldn't concentrate with the others around. They got the task to make the healing tank more effective by decreasing the healing time with 20%. As a team, they managed to come up with a solution, which would enable a 10% decrease, but they all knew that the King won't accept it, not to mention the Prince. They were never interested in excuses, they wanted results. Without paying attention, she ended up in the royal garden by a fountain. It was actually quite a masterpiece and she wondered how it ended up here. There was a dragon in the middle of it with huge wings, and instead of fire, water was flowing out from his mouth, but it still remained "fire-shaped" and due to the internal lighting, it appeared red. She found a huge willow-tree near the fountain and decided to sit under it. It was late morning, the sunshine was already intensive, but the temperature was cool enough in the shadows.

"I feel like we are missing something…" She said, as she looked at her laptop's screen and run the simulation again.

She managed to come up with a 15% decrease, but any more than that seemed impossible. Of course Vegeta wasn't interested in impossible, he would just keep killing them, until one came up with the desired solution. Speaking of the Devil, she saw him walking towards her, but right now he hasn't detected her yet. Even so, he had the scouter on, so it was just a matter of time, hence trying to hide was futile. She never had any real interaction with him in the last year, but he came to the lab a couple of times, checking on them or demanding something. She was also twice in the throne room, presenting results, but she was never alone with him since the day they met. For that, she was grateful, as his eyes were so cold, that she shivered every time he looked at her. He looked like somebody, who just came from a battlefield, with his clothes torn and covered in blood. Still, this time he looked unhurt, apart from some minor bruises. She already knew that those will heal within a day; saiyan body was something beyond her understanding.

**V**egeta cursed as he walked through the garden. He just arrived back, but he was so outraged, that he had to cool down, before seeing his father. The planet which they had to clean out had stronger warriors as they expected and the mission took two weeks, instead of one and the biggest issue was that from his team, only he and Nappa made out alive, while the rest of them died. He knew his father would blame him again, but those idiots deserved to die! Anybody, who is not capable to remain alive in a battle, was just a waste of resource and the saiyans were better off without them. Even so, it was a fact that the number of the saiyan race decreased a lot during the years and by now only a small portion of Vegetasei was inhabited; mainly just the area around the Palace. While they won their fights, they suffered too many losses and an average saiyan never had more than 2-4 children. That wasn't an issue ages ago, when the planet was fully inhabited and saiyans lived in clans. Every clan had a leader, swearing alliance to the King, who led them all. By now the clans entirely disappeared and the Royal Family was the only one, who decided the course of actions. So his father and even his grandfather became obsessed that they lose as few warriors on the missions as possible. Still, it was easier said than done. While saiyans attacked in teams, team work itself was never their strength. It was rather like everybody was on his own, and they killed the inhabitants at different part of the planet. Once they finished them off, they met up again at the site, where their spaceship landed. They were not much of the strategists, after they decided on the target. Also, even when they might potentially save each other on the battlefield, they were just not ready, risking their own lives for others. It was to kill or be killed; they had no time fooling around, saving each other's ass. Vegeta was outraged that this was exactly what his father demanded from him. More so as he was the Prince, he should be the one, who set an example. Damn it! Just then his scouter piped and he realised that he wasn't alone. Somebody was under the willow tree. He cursed, as he recognised the scientist girl, whom he bought here.

"Just what the hell are you doing here?" He asked, looking at her with a killer's intent.

"I'm working." Bulma answered, trying to remain calm.

"As far as I know, scientists are supposed to work in the lab."

"I needed some fresh air and as I finished building my portable pc, there is really no reason for me, not to come here."

With that she showed him the laptop, where the healing tank's blueprint was displayed.

"You are aware, that you only have a day to come up with the solution, right?" He asked and by now he was only a step away from her.

She found it unnerving as he towered over her, so she put down the pc and stood up. That way they were almost equally high and his presence was just a little bit less intimidating.

"I'm painfully aware, yes. However let me remind you, that I never yet failed to finish my tasks on time."

"You don't need to remind me; that is the only reason why you are still alive." He answered with a cruel smirk and he stepped closer, forcing her to back off.

Bulma felt the willow tree pushed against her back and she knew she was cornered. He was in a worse mood as usually and that didn't help her cause. To make the matter worse, he seemed to enjoy the fact, that she was afraid of him. Yes, he was definitely the type, who enjoyed to see others suffer, especially when he was the cause of their suffering! How can somebody be so cruel?! Her mind raced, trying to find a means of escape and that's when she looked at his face, seeing a scar on his forehead, which was still slightly bleeding.

"That's it; I have it!" She cried out and grabbed him by his shoulders. "Blood!"

"What?" Vegeta asked shocked.

Just a moment ago she was frightened like a rabbit and now, her attitude completely changed; she seemed victorious.

"I need a blood sample from you, come on!" Bulma cried out and grabbing his hand, she began to pull him towards the palace.

The Prince was so startled that he actually let her drag him along for a few meters, before he forced her to stop.

"How dare are you ordering me around?" He snapped and tore out his hand from hers.

"Come on, don't be like that! With my method I might decrease the healing time with 30%, not just 20%!

She tried to grab him again, but couldn't as he stepped away.

"What are you talking about?"

"You see, the healing tank is just like a template… it was never customised for saiyans! It never used out your special genetic abilities! Healing me would take the same amount of time as healing you; given that we had the same injuries. But once it's adjusted to a saiyan body, it should be more effective on you, while it might be less effective on me. Since you don't intent to cure anybody else, that's shouldn't be much of a drawn back and anyhow, I can always re-modify it at an unlikely circumstance you change your mind. Anyhow, to do the necessary changes, I need a blood sample from you and I need to borrow one of the healers as well."

**V**egeta cursed as he went with her to the healers and let one of them take blood from him. What she said made sense, but if the solution is really so simple, how can it be, that none of the other scientists came to the same conclusion? Just what made her so special? More so, now that she had a concrete set of actions to complete, she wasn't even bothered by his presence. Truthfully, she almost completely ignored him and was fully occupied with her work. As she talked with the healer who took blood and also involved Falk and Craig in her conversation, they treated her with respect. It was strange, as slaves never really respected anybody and they were not cooperating with each other at such a level. What startled him the most was, that this respect was something fundamentally different from the respect, he had among the saiyans. While both of them were admired due to their superior abilities, neither of the scientists felt threatened by her, while none of the saiyans could be ever entirely sure that he won't hurt them. They rather respected him because they feared him, while they respected her simply because of her abilities. He never thought that even respect can differ and now he had to see how wrong he was.

**W**hen Bulma presented her findings in the throne room with Falk and Yaoki (who was one of the healers), Vegeta wasn't surprised anymore that she managed to pull it off, while his father couldn't believe, when she promised a 40% decrease in the healing time. As she presented them that it might even be able to heal more seriously injured warriors, the King almost called her a liar, but managed to restrain himself. He will see soon enough whether she was telling the truth or not.

"You are a genius, Bulma!" Yaoki told her, when they left the throne room and headed back to the lab.

"I know" She laughed, satisfied with her work.

As she looked at Yaoki, it still startled her how much he looked like a human, with the only difference that his skin was purple. More so as she reminded her of one of the scientist working at Capsule Corp; his father's best friend. He had the exact same long white hair, slightly stocky body and even his black rimmed glasses were almost identic. She suddenly stopped and bowed towards him and Falk, saying:

"Thank you! I really appreciate your help!"

Vegeta also left the throne room shortly after them and as he saw this, he was baffled. What was she doing? It was she, who came up with the idea; why was she sharing the credits with them? More so, thanking something… he never done such a thing before and had no idea, what could possibly drive her to say that. She was a peculiar creature, nothing he has ever seen before. He grinded his teeth, angrily realising that he just stopped to look at her. He cursed and stormed past them, without giving them a second glance. He had no time to waste, he had to change and prepare for his next mission! To his utter dismay, this time (as a punishment) he was sent with a bunch of 3rd class warriors. That was so below him, but his father said, that at least he should be able to make sure all of them come back alive as it wasn't such a hard mission! As his personal goal he had to make sure, they all get back to Vegetasei in one piece…

**A** few hours later he landed on Maligu, with a clean-out mission. As he looked around, he saw Kakarott, who wasn't just a 3rd class, but also only 10 years old. He was the one, who needed 5 years for his first mission, because first he sustained a head injury and it took him weeks to recover, then he lost his tail and to top it, when it grew back, some crazy old geezer destroyed the Moon and he had to kill off the rest of the humans in his base form. Pathetic! He had two other warriors to look out for; Pease and Toma. Both were in their mid-twenties, born and remained a 3rd class. Well, at least they had some experience and remained alive so far… Figuring that the best way would be to stick together, he decided to split into two teams, instead of going on their own as they usually did. As Kakarott had the least experience, Vegeta decided to go with him, hoping that Pease and Toma will manage to survive together, without him. As expected, most of the creatures had a low power level, but even so it took him hours until they cleaned out three of their biggest cities. Then some soldiers appeared, who hoped to defeat them.

"How boring…" Vegeta remarked as he checked the 5 men-team's power level.

All of them together were barely stronger as a 3rd class warrior. Ok, they might have posed a threat for Kakarott alone, but the Prince could easily kill them within seconds. Just then as he looked at his "partner" he realised that his scouter was turned off. Was he really so stupid, that he couldn't use such a simple device? As he asked him, he answered:

"I only have it on for the communication. I can tell their power level based on their Ki, without any device."

"What?"

"The five of them are barely stronger as a 3rd class warrior" Kakarott added, erasing any doubt in Vegeta's mind that he was bluffing.

He wanted to ask something, but couldn't as the soldiers initiated their attacks. Unlike him and Kakarott, they were working as a team and even though Vegeta alone was stronger as they, it proved to be quite hard, fending them off. As he fought, he couldn't help to notice, that Kakarott's speed was way higher as that of a 3rd class. He was almost as quick as he himself. How can that be? In the next second his scouter peeped and all of them froze as Kakarott prepared an energy beam; called Kamehameha. As soon as it hit the target, it completely vaporised him. Vegeta couldn't believe his eyes; the power level showed on his scouter was impossible! It must have been damaged, there is no other explanation. There was no way he was so strong, it was a power level of a 2nd class. Still not as high as his own, but it would mean the gap between them wasn't as great any more as he assumed. The technique in itself was something, what he has never seen before. Where did he learn it? It was for sure not a saiyan know-how and it's not like they run around the universe picking up skills from aliens.

"I feel a huge power at the North!" Kakarott called, looking at him.

He looked at scooter, but there was nothing there; he must be imaging things. Then as he turned his head in that direction, he saw it; a high power level was displayed suddenly. Not that high to cause him problems, but too high for Pease and Toma to handle on their own. No, he just cannot lose his men again, especially as this time it was also his goal to get them back alive.

"I can handle them, go!" Kakarott called, looking at the Prince.

He nodded, thinking that Kakarott had still a better chance against the 4 of them as the others against that unknown power. He heard as the battle continued behind him, but without glancing back he flew towards North as quickly as he could.

**W**hen the battle was finally over, Vegeta dragged the injured Pease and Toma to their ships, while Kakarott checked the planet for any remaining life source.

"I'm sure we got most of them." He commented and opened his eyes.

"Where did you learn how to sense energy?" Vegeta asked, despite himself.

"On Earth! They had a few good fighters and they could do this as well. Also that Kamehameha; that was used to destroy the Moon, it's quite awesome, what?" Kakarott asked, with a goofy smile on his face.

Just who the hell was this guy? Vegeta knew Bardock and Radditz and none of them had such an immense power or skills, not to mention his speed. He had no idea about the gravity belt, which was by now a permanent property of Kakarott, thanks to Bulma.

Kakarott was occupied with his own thought, as he loaded Pease and Toma to their ships. They were alive, but sustained some serious injuries. Before he also stepped into his own pod, he looked around. They were in a dessert, which was full of life before they arrived. Now all he saw was a wasteland with bodies scattered around. For some reason, he remembered on Bulma's question "Do you seriously don't feel anything, when you kill somebody?" and by now he began to understand something. During the last year as he got to know her and Chichi, he also learned other things from them. He never enjoyed killing, while he enjoyed fighting. At first, he couldn't understand the difference between the two, but now… it became clear; he enjoyed to take on an opponent whose abilities were equal to his or even greater, but killing somebody, who was weaker was no fun. He sighed and got back to his ship, closing the door. He didn't quite felt regret, but had a strange feeling in his chest, what he never experienced before. What was that?

Vegeta couldn't miss the look on Kakarott's face and he got confused. Normally he should be in high spirits as they won and he got away with some superficial injuries, but he looked passive, like his mind was somewhere else. As for him, he only felt anger, realising that a low class warrior had a superior ability; sensing Ki… How did he do that? He was too proud to ask it, but he became determined to figure it out on his own. It must be something easy, if a low class could master it with ease, not to mention that the humans were also able to do it.

"Good work!" He heard his father's voice, after he stepped out of the healing tank a couple of hours later.

"They were not much of challenge" He brushed it off and looked at the tank next to him, just to see it empty.

He turned to Yaoki and asked:

"Where is Kakarott?"

"He already left a few minutes ago."

"Great!" He called and as soon as he finished dressing, he went to look for him.

"**J**ust the one I needed!" Vegeta heard Bulma's voice as he walked past the lab.

"What is this?" Kakarott asked, holding an armour in his hands.

Vegeta stopped and remained in the entrance, looking at them curiously. He never expected to see those two together, as Kakarott was the one, who destroyed her race. Yet, she seemed to forgotten it as she was friendly with him.

"Geez, what does it look like?" Bulma asked.

"An armour?" Kakarott asked back, thinking it was some kind of tricky question.

"Good boy!" She smiled and patted his head playfully. "Yes, it's an armour."

"Well, I already have one…"

"But not like this! I was playing around with the blueprints and found a way to make it more durable."

"Seriously? Wow!"

"Do you want to test it?" She asked, also pointing at the other garments, which were lied out on a table.

"You bet!" Kakarott cried out and before Bulma could say anything, he stripped and stood butt-naked in front of her.

"You also upgraded the boots?" He asked, holding out one of them, while he was still naked.

"How many times have I told you, not to just strip out of your clothing in front of me?" Bulma cried out irritated.

"Why? Don't tell me, that you haven't seen a naked man before?"

"I haven't! Why would I have seen one?"

"Well, there are plenty in the showers!"

"I'm using the showers for women. Remember? I'm a girl!"

Vegeta could help but chuckle; the scene was just hilarious. Both Bulma and Kakarott looked at him startled, not noticing him until that point.

"Hey Vegeta!" Kakarott cried out and waved.

"Damn it, put something on at last!" Bulma shouted, grabbing an iron tube from the desk and hitting him full in the head.

"Ouch! You don't have to be so violent!" Kakarott answered, while finally began to get dressed.

"So you improved the armour" Vegeta said, stepping closer.

Bulma gulped, but decided not to let her intimidated by his presence. She remembered how shocked he looked, when she dragged him to the healer, totally forgotten her fear.

"I think I did, but I need Kakarott to test it to be sure."

"Just when were you planning to share this with me?" He asked, stepping closed, expecting her to back up.

"That's far enough!" Bulma called, and held out her hand, placing it on his chest. "You don't have to climb into my face, in order to talk."

Shocked, he remained standing and Bulma removed her hand with a satisfied smile, continuing the conversation:

"I wanted to inform you as soon as I knew for sure, that it's working. Of course if you are so interested, the next time you can be my guinea pig, instead of him."

Vegeta cursed; he as a guinea pig? He was the Prince, not some kind of lab rat to play around with!

"See? I knew you would agree!" Bulma smiled.

That's it, he lost it as he saw her satisfied smile:

"Next time, I will test it!" He shouted and stormed out.

Kakarott looked curiously after him, while Bulma shrugged and turned back, adjusting the armour.


	6. Chapter 5 - New project

**Thank you for all the reviews so far, I'm always happy when I'm reading them!**

Chapter 5

New project

**V**egeta was on his knees, trying to catch his breath. As he looked down, he saw sweat drops falling from his forehead to the floor, leaving small dark circles behind. A year passed since his first mission with Kakarott and finally he challenged him to a one-on-one fight. Of course it was just for training, not a real life-death situation, but it was still outrageous how much effort it cost him to defeat a 3rd class warrior. Kakarott was only 11 years old, he was 16 and the Prince, yet his abilities appeared less and less superior compared to his. It might have started on Earth, but since that girl was transported here, Kakarott's abilities somehow began to improve at an unbelievable peace. What did she do with him in the last two years? She knew nothing about fighting and had a tiny Ki, there was no way she trained him. Then what? Did she invent some kind of gadget what was capable of increasing one's Ki? No, even she cannot be so good and he kept a close eye on her in the last year, since she upgraded the armour. That was quite an unexpected boost and it came in handy at the battlefield. It wasn't even like they forced her to do it, she just came up with such a brilliant idea on her own. Damn, he just ended up thinking about her, instead of focusing on the battle. He stood up and looked over at Kakarott. He was still lying on the ground and by the look of it, he just came to himself.

"That was a great fight, we should do it again!" Kakarott called and he was smiling like an idiot.

That was again something, what Vegeta just didn't get. How can somebody be so happy about the fact that his ass was just kicked? He should be ashamed and at loss. Losing a battle was almost like losing your honour, even if it was just a training.

"I know stronger houseplants then you Kakarott" He said, not willing to admit that he was somewhat of a challenge and especially not admitting his fear, that it might just worsen with time.

**B**ulma was coming back from the kitchen where she has spoken with Chichi and as she turned toward the lab, she saw light coming out from one of the training rooms. It was unusual for anybody to be training at that hour, so she decided to check it out. First she assumed it might be Kakarott, but she remembered that he was out in a mission. As she looked into the room, she saw Vegeta. He was in the middle of the room, practicing his punches, drenched in sweat. This time he didn't even had his armour on, just a dark blue short with sneakers and a black T-shirt. While she always suspected he must have a gorgeous body, not much was revealed as the shirt under his armour was long-sleeved, just like the trunks. Now as she was looking at him, she felt like she was seeing some kind of ancient Greek God or something. He concentrated so much on his exercise, that he failed to notice her. Still, as by now he was also able to sense Ki without scooter, she forced herself to continue walking towards the lab. She had no time drooling, regardless how great sight he proved to be and she was sure he would be outraged in case he noticed her. Still, it was easier said than done as every night she walked back from Chichi, she saw him training. It looked like something happened and he became determined to be even stronger. Why? As far as she knew, he was the strongest of all saiyans, by now even stronger as his own father.

"Yeah, he is strong!" Kakarott answered, when one day Bulma asked him about the Prince. "I have never met anybody so strong before and I'm hoping we will have a fight again."

"What do you mean _again_?"

"He asked me to spar, out of the blue and he beat me up pretty badly. I'm not sure why he wasn't training with the elite warriors, though recently they don't seem to be as strong any more. I guess the gravity belt helped me a lot!"

"Yeah, it's just a shame it cannot increase the gravity to more than 20 fold. However… I might be able to do something about in case I built a room! Yes, that's it!" Bulma cried out and run to one of the boards and began scribbling on it quickly.

Kakarott already knew this kind of Bulma; there was no chance she would talk with him for hours, so he got up from the desk where he was sitting and left the room. It was about time to get something to eat and visit Chichi!

**V**egeta was furious! He came to this goddamn planet to steal some technology, which would enable their spaceships to travel at a higher speed and now the man, whom he was torturing, finally shared with him that as soon as they noticed his spaceship in the orbit, they destroyed everything. He was a stubborn man, Vegeta already broke two of his ribs and crushed both of his hands, when he finally decided to talk. Still, it seemed fishy. He looked at the bloody body sitting on the floor and leaned closer, asking:

"If you really destroyed everything, that would mean that you also lost all of your technologies!"

"I don't care, as long as you don't get it, you filthy saiyan!" He answered with such a rage, that Vegeta had to laugh.

Still, how will he get him to confess where the backup data is? He seemed to endure physical pain way better than anybody whom he ever met. By now he killed almost everybody else, so it was highly unlikely he will find somebody else, who might possess the information. Then he remembered on a conversation which he had with Bulma a couple of days ago.

_Flashback_

_ "What I don't get is this; how can you be on such a good terms with Kakarott, who killed all those humans?" Vegeta said as he stepped into the lab._

_Kakarott just left the room and Bulma was studying an equation on the board._

_ "What do you want Vegeta?" She asked sighing._

_ "How are you progressing with the new spaceship?"_

_ "Good, but I might progress better, if you wouldn't nag me every day!"_

_She still looked at the board, then suddenly turned to him, deciding to answer his first question:_

_ "You know, I forgave him."_

_ "Whom?"_

_ "Kakarott. I don't expect you to understand, but humans are actually capable of forgiving."_

_ "I guess in case he never hurt you physically, you can do that."_

_ "You know, physical pain is far not the worst kind of pain. When you love somebody and have to see him suffer or die, that is more painful than anything. It's especially painful when you cannot do anything to prohibit it and you are just watching it happen in front of your eyes. I was never hurt when I was on Earth, yet sometimes I wished it was rather physical agony, then mental suffering. Still what Kakarott did, it wasn't his choice and you might not want to hear it, but I believe he is a good guy somewhere inside."_

_End of flashback_

So according to Bulma there was another kind of pain as well and that supposed to work better. Vegeta looked around and grabbed a girl, who was trembling in the corner. She was his daughter, there was no doubt about it; she had the same brown hair and their features were similar. She was around his age, dressed in a white nightgown and sandals. Her elegant bun was already destroyed and most of her long hair hang lose.

"What do you want with her?" He cried out and to Vegeta's pleasure, he heard desperation in his voice.

"If you don't tell me, where you store the backup data, I will rape her in front of you!"

"No, please leave her alone!" He called, while she began to cry.

Vegeta smirked and without further ado, he tore off her clothes with one move. Both father and daughter cried out again, while Vegeta pushed her against the wall. She had an average body with a bit of an overweight, but with her white skin and full breasts, she looked desirable. Vegeta grabbed her arms and pinned her holding them above her head, while he parted her legs. As he loosened his own trouser, his father began to beg him, while she couldn't restrain herself any longer and began to cry, trembling with fear.

"I will tell you! It's in the box, next to my desks!" He finally spit it out.

Vegeta threw a look at the box; yes, it looked big enough to store a device capable of transporting data in electronic format; the man was most probably telling the truth. Still, just for the fun of it, Vegeta went ahead and raped the girl nevertheless, enjoying her cries and her father's sobbing in the background. After he was finished, he made sure he was indeed telling the truth and just for good measure, he killed both of them, before he left the planet.

"**Y**ou have to find a way to get the data off from this!" Vegeta said, storming into the lab and putting down the box on Bulma's desk.

After he got back and cleaned up, his first priority was to make sure the scientist can work on the new engine.

"Where did you get it?" She asked interested, as she picked out the device and began to plug it together with one of the pcs.

"From an alien planet of course. By the way, it seems like you might end up saying something meaningful occasionally." Vegeta smirked.

"What do you mean?" Bulma asked a bit irritated, but she decided to stick to her plan by not showing fear in front of him and not letting him get under her skin.

"The governor was only willing to give this to me, after I raped his daughter in front of him. Regardless how many bones I crashed in his body, he just wasn't willing to say anything. So as unlikely as it seems, I actually learned something from you."

While she remained sitting and after a few seconds she continued to connect the device, he saw something in her eyes, but he couldn't quite place it. First he thought it was fear, but he realised it wasn't. It was hate and despise. Then it suddenly disappeared and only sadness remained there, like she somehow felt sorry for him. Why?

"I will be back within a couple of hours and I expect you to give me something meaningful regarding the engine at that time!" He called and left the room.

As soon as Bulma was sure she was alone, she let go of the cables as her hands began to shake so terribly, that she couldn't work. Also, she felt tears filling up in her eyes and she needed to fight them back. Crying was the last thing what she needed right now! She fully expected herself to hate him for this, but all she felt was sorry. She felt sorry, because he had no feelings whatsoever, he only knew how to kill and destroy, without ever feeling regret or any pang of consciousness. She was sure he was never loved and he was never capable of loving somebody. To feel any kind of attachment was unimaginable for him. And that was way worse than anything what she could imagine. Despite all, he had his good qualities as well; he was clever as whenever she talked with him about a project, he was quite easily following her, unlike his father, who sometimes just pretended to understand what she was talking about. He was persistent and enduring; she has seen him train quite many times recently and it was clear that he never took his power granted; he was willing to work for it. Even though he was the one who lost most of his own men in battles during invasions, by now he became quite a strategist and managed to get back almost everybody most of the times. Even when the mission proved to be more dangerous as they calculated. With his abilities he could really turn things around, but he wasn't capable to feel anything beyond rage and pride.

"What is this? Karris asked, suddenly appearing out of nowhere.

"Oh, it's some kind of data storing device with an engine plan" Bulma answered, coming back to the present.

She finished plugging in the remaining wires and opened the storage on her pc.

**A** few days later as Bulma again stumbled upon a training Vegeta, she came up with an idea and decided to try something; she will share the gravity room's plans with the Prince and ask for his permission to build it. She was sure he will find it extremely useful as even just a gravity belt helped Kakarott to improve a lot with a 20 fold gravity. She will try to get close to him and convince him that his actions are wrong. Even inside her mind it sounded crazy, but once she decided to do something, there was no going back. Also, despite everything, she just couldn't believe that he was really not capable of feelings. Nobody can be so cruel, not even a saiyan. When she stepped into the room, Vegeta was just having a short break, clearing his face with a white towel.

"What the hell do you want?" He grunted as he saw Bulma.

"As polite as ever, what?" She answered, then added: "Actually I came to help you."

"Help me? With my training?" Vegeta asked cynically and began to laugh.

"Damn it, I have no idea, why I'm bothering with you at all! I wanted to build you a gravity room, as training at a higher gravity should be more effective, but if you are not interested…"

That caught his attention, now he was looking at her, waiting for her to go on.

"With a belt I can manage to increase the gravity with 20 fold, while in a room I'm quite sure I can manage to create a 100 time higher gravity as it is on Vegetasei."

"Are you crazy? How could you increase the gravity?" He asked, stepping closer and once again stopped by her arm.

"That's close enough! Anyhow, it's so good to know that you are trusting my abilities. Tell me, when did I ever fail to do something?"

As Vegeta decided to ignore this question, Bulma asked him to come to the laboratory and see the plans for himself. As he checked the calculations and the blueprints, he had to admit, it looked feasible. Increased gravity had so much possibility in itself and his training would be a lot more effective as it was under normal circumstances. Suddenly he stopped and looked up at her, studying her face:

"What do you want?"

"What?" This question came so unexpectedly that she had no idea, what he meant by that.

Vegeta stepped back, crossing his arms in front of his chest, while repeating:

"What do you want in exchange?"

"Nothing! I already told you, I just want to help."

"Like on Aoi-sei. You just helped me, without any ulterior motive, right?"

"Well, I saw you as my opportunity to come here, but I would have helped you anyway. I don't care whether you believe me or not, think what you want!"

Vegeta looked at her, but she seemed serious. He has never met anybody, who just did something for him and she was one of the last person, from whom he would have expected it. It just didn't make any sense.

"Why?" He finally asked.

"Maybe because I'm human, maybe because I'm naïve. Anyhow, do you want it or not?"

"When can you finish it?"

"Hold your horses! In case I'm stupid enough and give you a date, you might end up executing me, in case I fail. But let me tell you something; nobody else would be able to finish it and even when it's done, I will need to check on it occasionally. Meaning, once you agree to it; it will mean that you need me, got it? So you cannot just go and vaporise me, when you have a bad day!"

When Vegeta finally agreed with it, Bulma had a satisfied smile on her face.

**B**ulma managed to get herself a project, which took an extreme long time to complete. The gravity machine itself wasn't even the hardest part; she had to reinforce the room as well, to withstand gravity. Also, she had to make a basically indestructible compartment for the machine, because in case it would get hit by an energy beam, it might blow up otherwise. Still, she enjoyed the task as it challenged her on a whole new level and she improved a lot.

"Damn it!" She cried out and run to the desk, where she was heating a liquid over a small flame.

While she worked on the walls, she also had to finish her normal work, which involved creating new fuel for the spaceships. For that reason she set up a small lab in the gravity chamber, to avoid running back and forth between the two rooms. However she has totally forgotten about the liquid and now it was just about to boil over. She grabbed it with a clamp and run toward the exit. Vegeta decided to pick this exact moment to appear in the doorway, blocking her way.

"Move!" She cried, but he remained there.

"Move damn it, I don't have time!" She repeated but he decided to argue:

"Just who do you think you are, using that tone with me?"

"Damn it Vegeta…" She began, but at that moment the liquid boiled over and it landed on the Prince's shirt.

It was lucky, that it wasn't really hot as the boiling point was on 50°C, but it was a highly flammable substance. Bulma cursed, then threw away the now empty tube and called:

"Get rid of your shirt!" As Vegeta wasn't showing any willingness to do it, she added: "Strip! Now!"

"Are you crazy?" He managed to ask, while to his dismay he blushed.

He had no idea, what was going on. First, she gave him instructions, then soaked his shirt and now… now she was asking him to get naked? To his utter shock, she grabbed his shirt and began to tear it off. It was most probably due to the adrenalin and not to her power, but she managed to tear it off with two pulls. It was so unexpected that he never even had the presence of mind to try to prevent it. He was just about to seize her, when she grabbed him, pulling him behind a big panel. The next moment they heard a small explosion and when they peeked out behind the panel, they saw the remaining of his shirt burning on the ground.

"See? When I tell you to move your ass, that is with a good reason" Bulma sighed, looking at him.

Gosh, his bare chest looked so gorgeous that she had to gather all her will power to tear away her eyes from it. It was a bad idea removing his shirt… but she had no other choice. As she looked at him, she couldn't help to laugh. His always so composed face, which never revealed any emotion apart from anger, looked way too funny! He almost looked like he was embarrassed and just before she removed his shirt, she could swear, she saw him blushing. That was so unexpected from the mighty Prince, she would have never dreamed to see such a reaction from him.

"What the fuck was that?" Vegeta asked, grinding his teeth.

"A component of the new fuel. I have to work on that as well, as the deadline is within a week. I set up a small lab here, to avoid running from one place to the other."

"You should just work on the gravity machine, that is more important!"

"To let you finally have an excuse to execute one of the other scientists? I don't think so. I told you, I don't need any special treatment. That also means I will keep on working on the normal tasks as well. Had you not killed off all the others working in the lab, I would have more time!"

"Why are you so worried about the others? They are not even from your race."

"Because I cannot not care and I grew quite found of them. I learned a lot from each and I'm not ready to risks their lives, if there is anything what I can do about it."

With that said, she turned back to her small temporary lab, filled another tube with the liquid and began to heat it again, this time promising herself to check on it before it boils over.

**At this point, I already figured out the whole plot and the ending. Don't worry, it won't happen quite just yet! Actually in case my calculations are right, it will end up being my second longest fanfiction so far. So for those, who haven't checked out my other stories; this is an invitation to a dance :D I really hope you will follow the story and keep coming back for updates!**


	7. Chapter 6 - Colonies

Chapter 6

Colonies

"**T**hat is my final decision" King Vegeta said, looking at some papers, scattered all over the place.

They were in the throne room with Vegeta, sitting by a big desk, which was mainly used to plan strategic attacks on other planets. Kind Vegeta was sitting at the opposite site of his son and seemed concerned.

"How can we just train for 3 years?" Vegeta asked, not quite believing what he just heard.

"I told you, we are still losing too many fighters; we really need to take a break and became stronger. We won't go to destroy or clean out planets, unless they really pay much. Even then, we will go with three times as many warriors as we would normally do, to make sure we are overpowering the inhabitants."

"It's insane!"

"No, what's insane is, that we keep losing fighters. This cannot go on! I also tested the gravity room and it is really impressive. Training there for 3 years will hugely increase our power levels; it is just the boost what we need."

Vegeta couldn't argue with that. The room was already finished a couple of months ago, and as he spent as much time there as possible, he could already feel that his power increased. Even after seeing all the design, he never dreamed that it will be so effective. It was funny, how none of the saiyans really trusted the room first and apart from the Prince and Kakarott, none of the others dared to try it for a while. Eventually they got around their issues, especially as they saw how much they improved in a short time. Still, staying on Vegetasei for 3 years, only training… it seemed a long time. He was 17 years old, but since a very early age, he was always on missions and he never spent more than 2-3 months on the planet, without going anywhere. Well, they will still do some high level jobs, but that's not nearly the same. His father was right though, they needed time to become stronger and now they had the most effective tool for it.

"Fine, 3 years" He finally agreed and left the room.

**B**ulma was desperate. She needed to go back to Aoi-sei, otherwise the other there, will have trouble with mining again. She was sure some of the tools already broke and the rest of them will break as well, unless she can repair and maintain them. It was scary how time was flying. She was already 16 years old, living on Vegetasei for 3 years and was abducted from home more than 6 years ago. She still missed her old life and as she looked back on the problems she had on Earth, she had to laugh. How could she really complain about school that much? She was way ahead of everybody in the class and she was always bored, while she listened to the teachers. Now, she would give anything, just to get back to school! Not because she needed the education, rather because that would mean she has a normal life again. She terribly missed her parents as well and whenever she spoke about her old life with Chichi, she still felt a deep pain and sadness inside her chest. It's not like she suffered from any need, her life was relatively good here. She had her own room, she had Chichi and Kakarott and she became a scientist, which was her dream as a little girl. Sure, she never assumed she will work for aliens… but that was just a minor issue. Even though she wasn't allowed to leave the planet, she had a huge freedom; apart from the royal wing of the palace, she could go anywhere, anytime. As much as she hated Vegetasei at first, she almost liked it know. The temperature was hotter as on Earth and it didn't have such a huge variety in flora and fauna, but it was still beautiful. Just north from the castle, she had a view on a huge mountain, while at west she could see the sea. At the near vicinity of the castle there was a huge forest and occasionally she went there with Kakarott to catch some fishes. Or rather, to watch him catching some. Occasionally they also managed to smuggle Chichi out, as she had not such a great freedom as Bulma, given the fact that she was working in the kitchen.

"Are you listening at all?" She heard Karris and as she looked up from her pc, she saw that he was looking at her, sitting on her desk.

She had no idea, when he came to the lab and she never noticed him occupying her desk.

"Sorry, I never even saw when you came in" She said and smiled at her own absent-mindedness.

"I just told you, that I'm finished with my work, so I can help you with the new gravity room."

"Right!" She called and jumped up from her chair, then froze as something came to her mind.

"What is it now?" Karris asked, also standing up.

"You are allowed to travel to the colonies, aren't you?"

"Well… yes, but why would I do that?"

Bulma quite enjoyed working with Karris and despite being a saiyan, he had talent and learned quite quickly. He was never rude to anybody and unlike the others, he wasn't acting all mighty. Just like Bulma, he also treated the slaves as his equals and never threatened them, even though he was strong. At least compared to a normal person.

"You see, there are some machines on Aoi-sei, which are in a pretty bad shape and I need somebody to repair them. I cannot go obviously, however you can. I'm quite sure you will manage it, those are not really high tech things." She explained.

"So that is how they are able to deliver the required amount of gold since years! You built them machines, didn't you? Man, I really could have come to this conclusion on my own!"

"Can you please help me?"

Karris sighed, knowing that he will end up saying yes anyway. Bulma helped him out in the past and thanks to her he improved a lot and by now he wasn't just doing minor repairs, but actually contributed in more advanced tasks as well. He owned her that and he also understood her attitude towards the others; she was concerned. For some reason, he had the feeling that she even cared about the Prince on some level, which was odd. Humans were strange; she also forgave Kakarott for what he did and that was massive. Though at least he could partly understand that; Kakarott was different, not like most of the saiyans. Not that he was the one to talk, he was also a bit of an outsider.

"Fine, I will go" He nodded.

"Great, thank you!" She smiled and gave him a quick hug.

Just at that moment Vegeta stepped into a room and Bulma could have sworn he seemed outraged as he looked at them. Why? It had no sense… She must have imagining thing. He was always in a bad mood anyway, maybe this time it was just worse than usual.

"I will go ahead" Karris said and left the room.

He was never comfortable around the royal family and the Prince unnerved him even more as the King.

"How can I help you today, Sire?" She asked with a cynical smile.

Vegeta was indeed angry when he saw them being so familiar with each other. To make it worse; he had no idea, why this suddenly hit him. He just realised he wanted to punch Karris in the face, making him fly across the room. This inducement was so strong and unexpected, that he had to ball his fist in order to not to hit him. As Karris left and bowed, Vegeta was sure he didn't sense anything, but that stupid girl looked at him in a peculiar way. Also the way she phrased the questions, he knew she was just mocking him. Damn it, she was lucky that she had brains, otherwise he would have blasted her away a long time ago.

"I came to see your progress on the next gravity chamber" He answered, trying hard not to get irritated.

"As usual, I would be able to progress more quickly if you wouldn't waste my time. I already built two, what's the rush?"

"It was recently decided, that we will minimize our fights for the time being, so almost every saiyan will stay on the planet and train for 3 years."

"How come?"

"It's none of your damn business, just hurry up, do it and stop with your incessant jabbering!"

"It was a pleasure talking with you, as usual" She answered and wanted to leave.

To her surprise, he grabbed her arm, pulled her back and asked:

"Just where do you think you are going?"

"To build the damn gravity room!" Bulma answered and winced as his grip was too strong and it was hurting her arm.

Even so, she wasn't backing down and asking him to release her. She knew it would be in vain or even worse; it might just add oil to the fire. At first, Vegeta wasn't aware that he was hurting her but as soon she winced, he became conscious of it. He smirked, thinking that it will teach her a lesson to show some respect. He might not be able to kill her (for which he was sorry), but he could always torture her a bit. He was fully expecting her to beg him to stop, but she met his gaze and her eyes were filled with determination. He grabbed her harder, but the only change he managed to get out of her was, that she set her teeth to prevent herself from crying out. It was no fun, so he let her go with disappointment. She threw a hurtful look at him before she proceeded and left the laboratory. As soon as she was out of sight, she rubbed her arm, thinking that it will leave a bruise for sure.

**T**he next day Karris left Vegetasei and travelled to Aoi-sei as he agreed with Bulma. To his surprise Kakarott decided to tag along, so they took the cargo ship with the disguise that they will get the gold this month.

"Why are you insisting on coming?" Karris asked as they left the orbit of Vegetasei.

"Don't know" Kakarott answered and scratched the back of his head. "I guess I wanted to see the planet as I have heard so many things about it from Chichi and Bulma."

Even though he was 12 years old, he was rather short for his age. Despite that, he was a good fighter and was promoted to 2nd class a few months ago. A promotion like that was always impressive, as most of the fighters remained in the class they were born, until they died. It was rare that one of them became stronger over the years and he wasn't just stronger, he also had some interesting techniques. Only he and Vegeta possessed the ability to sense Ki, all the others were still using the scouters to see their enemies' power. Of course nobody dared to ask Vegeta how he does it, but Kakarott, he might be willing to share it.

"Say, how do you sense somebody's power level?" Karris asked, changing the subject.

"Well, it's quite simple, once you get the hang of it" He smiled and began to explain it.

It sounded really simple and when they landed on Aoi-sei half an hour later, Karris didn't need his scouter to know how many Aois were waiting for them. While he was never sent on missions as a punishment, he still trained to stay in shape and he also liked fighting. His only problem was with killing; just like Kakarott, he never enjoyed destroying weak creatures. As soon as they landed and got out of the spaceship, both saiyan felt the hatred, what was coming from the inhabitants of the planet.

"Can you supervise the loading?" Karris turned to Kakarott. "I will go ahead and do the repairs."

"Sure, I can do that" Kakarott nodded and opened the door of the storage room.

"I was sent here by Bulma" Karris turned to the Aoi, who was standing the nearest to the ship "and she asked me to repair the machines she built for you."

"Is this some kind of joke?" Gale asked, not quite sure, that he heard right.

The man standing before him was a saiyan (although he was dressed in a strange overall), there was no doubt about it, yet he stated he is here for the machines. Could it be that they somehow got wind of Bulma's activities here and he came here to destroy them? Half of them were already broken, but the remaining ones were still a great help.

"I can understand that you don't trust me. I'm a saiyan after all" Karris smiled. "I'm telling you the truth though and it's not like you have much to lose. Without my actions, the tools will be broken anyway within a few months, so please, lead me to them!"

Gale weighted his options, but Karris was right, he had no other choice. He nodded and asked him to follow, surveying him carefully as he grabbed the toolbox and walked next to him. Karris felt Gale's eyes on him the whole time, though he was surprised when he managed to fix the first machine. Most of the slaves working there kept a safe distance from him, not even risking a glance. It was also among the things Karris hated as a saiyan. Wherever he went, he felt hate and fear, which was no wonder, considering what saiyans did.

**K**akarott had similar issues, with the difference, that he was just watching them working, without any interaction. The workers loaded the boxes in silence, trying to hurry up with it, to get rid of the saiyans as soon as possible. Suddenly one of them dropped a box and the gold spilled on the ground.

"Let me help!" Kakarott offered and jumped there so soon, that the worked cried out in fear, thinking that he will be killed for his actions.

Kakarott looked at him with an eye-brown raised, then decided to let it go; gathered the gold to the box and carried it to the cargo ship. All the workers stopped observed him with a shocked face.

"I guess it will be quicker if I do it" He said lifting up 3 boxes at the same time with ease.

As he began to load the ship alone, all 10 workers, who initially had this task, stood there, looking at him like he had grown a second head.

"Is there something on my face?" Kakarott asked as he became conscious of the onlookers.

"What kind of saiyan are you?" Gray asked back.

"Bulma said it's ok to help others, without any personal gain. Or do you want to continue loading the ship?"

"No, no! You can carry on!"

Kakarott nodded and within the next 10 minutes he completed the work, which would have taken about 2 hours for the workers. As soon as he finished, he decided to look for Karris and also check out the place. It was the first time, that he was sent to a planet, without the order of destroying it. He never visited any of their colonies so far and it was strange to see a peaceful planet. He almost reached the mines, when he heard a strange noise and a cry from his right side. As he looked there, he saw a huge rock falling. He jumped there instinctively and shielded the child, who was playing just next to the cliff.

"Are you ok?" He asked, standing up.

The little girl, who was around 6, looked at him shocked, then she began to cry. Just like the other slaves, her clothes were smudged and ragged, her face smeared with dirt. She had long purple hair, which was braided into two ponytails.

"Ginna!" Her mother cried and rushed to them, almost knocking Kakarott down. "Are you ok?"

As she inspected her and saw that she wasn't hurt, just scared, she hugged her tightly, while she looked up at the young saiyan and said:

"Thank you for saving her! Thank you!"

Kakarott wasn't sure what to say, it wasn't like he was planning to save her, his body just moved on his own. As he looked at the mother's face, he was glad he jumped there. It's not like he got hurt, he barely felt the rock, while he saved a life with it. Somehow it felt good and he couldn't find out why. It wasn't anything special, nothing which intensively required his abilities, still as he saw how happy the mother was, he just had to smile. Again, everybody who saw the happenings looked at him strangely, not really understanding what they just witnessed.

"Hey Kakarott!" Karris called out and waved him to come there. "I need a hand with this!"

"Coming!" Kakarott answered and run towards him.

Karris was in the progress to repair a locomotive and he got lost between the wires and needed an extra hand.

"Why are they looking at us so strangely?" Kakarott asked, when they finished with everything and Karris was packing up the tools in the box.

"Guess they have never seen a saiyan, who wasn't plotting to kill them or at least terrorise them." He answered with a smirk.

"Well, this is the first time I'm not send to a planet to destroy it" Kakarott said with a goofy smile.

"I visited some colonies earlier, but never to help. I guess we should hurry up and go, I don't think they are really happy that we are here and I don't blame them."

With that said, they went back to the spaceship and started the engine to get home. As Karris needed a few spare parts to some of the tools, he decided to come back next month as well and repair the rest. It wasn't like the other saiyans found these kinds of assignments popular, they were gladly letting him and Kakarott do the job. This way Karris was able to help on the other colonies as well, with providing tools and whenever they were on a planet, Kakarott helped them load the spaceship and later on, even gave a hand with other works. With his powers, he was able to complete as much as a normal slave would within a week. First they got a similar atmosphere from the slaves as on Aoi-sei but as time passed and the inhabitants realised that the two saiyans had really no ill-will towards them and they were really just helping, they got used to them. At some planets, they were even looking forward to see them, because it meant receiving extra machines and additional help with the work.

"**I** think this should solve their issues" Bulma said, showing an irrigation system to Karris.

He just came back from one of the colonies, where due to the weather, the population suffered from drought and it looked they won't be able to deliver the minimal amount of grain, demanded by the saiyans.

"It looks complicated, I'm not sure I can build it alone" He answered, looking at the draft.

"I can build the most complicated parts, you just need to assemble it. It's a shame Kakarott has no idea about technical stuff, he could help you."

"Say, why are you always tagging along?" Karris asked, looking at the younger saiyan, who was also studying the blueprint.

"First it seemed like a good adventure" Kakarott answered, looking at them. "Then just recently on Mahu-sei one of the slaves told me how to become invisible.

"I remember that they had this ability when we conquered them, but it was no use as we could detect them with the scooters" Karris nodded.

"It could be useful for me though as I'm able to repress my Ki, so nobody would detect me" Kakarott smiled. "He promised to teach it to me, so I need to go back!"

"Do you think that the other slaves might also have some useful techniques?" Bulma asked.

"Maybe, but I also enjoy just visiting them. All the planets are so different from Vegetasei!"

"Are you sure, you are ok, doing this?" Bulma looked at Karris.

"I'm, since the first time since a long while, they are finally not looking at me with those hateful eyes, but are actually welcoming me. I never expected that it will be so good, I always assumed slaves have to fear you; I never imagined that helping them would actually help the saiyans as well. Most of the colonies are finally able to deliver the resources and we can build more spaceships, tools and have a wider variety of food."

"Good, then let's get to work" Bulma smiled.

**I'm thinking about posting an extra chapter again this week, but no promises :) I hope you enjoyed this one!**


	8. Chapter 7 - Training

Chapter 7

Training

**V**egeta was on the verge of fainting due to exhaustion. He pushed his limits and trained by a 300 times greater gravity by now, but his body wasn't fully accustomed to it yet. To his dismay, only two other saiyan was capable of enduring the same gravity; Chaya, who was a member of the elite class and Kakarott, a 2nd class warrior. He could understand Chaya; she was 24 years old with a huge experience behind her. There was no difference between a man and a woman when it came to fights, both were equally strong and women also participated on the missions, with the only exceptions when they gave birth. Bulma found it hard to believe that even pregnant women went to conquer planets and only a day after giving birth, they were back in business. Kakarott was a mystery on the other hand; born as a low class, promoted as a 2nd class, he was still way more talented than many of the higher level warriors and he was only 14. Vegeta was 19, still the strongest warrior among the saiyans, but he felt more and more like Kakarott was closing the gap. They trained non-stop during the last 2 years and it already led to a huge improvement among the saiyans. Vegeta gathered his remaining strength and decided to train a bit more.

"**H**ey Vegeta, do you want to spar?" Kakarott asked one day when they both left the dining hall at the same time.

Vegeta grinded his teeth, as Kakarott was the only one, who dared to talk with him so casually. He already told him several times, that he should call him Prince Vegeta or Sire, but it seemed that it was just too hard for him to remember. Somehow he decided to give it up and just let it slide, but it still unnerved him.

"Why would I waste my time on a 2nd class, like you? It's not like you are much of a challenge."

"I trained a lot and I also picked up some new techniques."

"New techniques? From whom?"

"People on the colonies know some cool stuff, like the acid orb" Kakarott explained, then as demonstration he hit the wall with a small green orb.

As Vegeta looked there, he saw that a smaller hole appeared on the wall, which began to grow until it became so huge that a saiyan could easily pass through it. He recalled reading something about this in their database, but he has never seen a saiyan perform it so far. They had details on every colony they conquered, not just about the resources the planet had, but also detailed descriptions about the inhabitants' power level and techniques. It was rare that a colony tried to get rid of the saiyan invaders, but they decided better to be careful and study them.

"Why would they teach you something like this?"

"Maybe because I'm not mean like the others. I helped them out with some work and I think we are friends now."

Friends… Wasn't this something the woman kept saying? Now is Kakarott also coming with the same shit? When exactly did he make friends with them at all? More importantly, why would he be friends with them? It's not even like saiyans were friends with each other, much less with slaves.

"How can you lower yourself to their level? You are a saiyan, a member of a superior race, yet you ask our slaves to teach you?"

"What is wrong with that? Sure, we are stronger, but they have some unique techniques, which could help. I think it was common on Earth to learn fighting from others, who were stronger or more experienced."

"Yeah, and look where that lead them; they are all dead or living as slaves. Saiyans on the other hand are prospering."

"I don't see any issue with learning from others. Fight with me and you will see!"

Vegeta wasn't sure what to do. Normally he wouldn't lower himself to fight Kakarott, that one time after their first mission together was enough. On the other hand; he had to give him credit, even if it was unwillingly done. Also he was intrigued, he has rarely seen any new techniques which could be of any use, as most of the inhabitants of the planets were not wordy opponents at all. Still didn't Kakarott have any pride?

"Fine, let's fight" He finally agreed and they went to one of the gravity rooms.

Kakarott had an annoying grin on his face the whole time and Vegeta wanted to punch him just for that. He was excited, even though both of them were clearly aware, that the Prince was still way stronger. How could somebody look forward to a fight which he will lose anyway? That was beyond him.

"I will set the gravity to 150, just to make it more interesting" Vegeta said and walked to the control panel.

"Good!" Kakarott nodded.

They stood at the opposite side of the room and looked at each other. Both of them were waiting to let the other attack, before finally giving up and beginning to do that at the same time. Even with Kakarott's new techniques, like the acid orb and the blinding light, the Prince still had the overhand most of the time. After a heavy punch as the younger saiyan got up, he called:

"I wasn't planning to use this as I'm still not fully controlling it, but here you go!"

With that, Kakarott disappeared and the next moment Vegeta felt a punch landing in his face. He staggered and looked around, but he was nowhere to be seen. Damn, he was invisible! He recalled the race who tried to use this technique against them, but it was useless as they could locate them with the scouters. Vegeta tried to concentrate on Kakarott's Ki, but he couldn't detect it. Again, he got hit several times and he was unable to block it. As he leaned against the wall, he became conscious of the fact, that it was impossible to detect him, because unlike the race, who owned this technique, Kakarott was able to repress his Ki as well, making him undetectable. He felt blood in his mouth and had to spit it out. He wiped his mouth with his hand and tried to find out a way to turn the table. This time none of them was wearing an armour. Armour was good for real fight, but in order to improve, they had to feel pain. Nothing motivates somebody better as the need to avoid even more pain. Again, the Prince felt a hit, but then as he got up, he had a smirk on his face. Just before he got attached, he felt him! Kakarott was able to repress his Ki until the very last moment of his attacks, but then he needed to use his power, hence his Ki became detectable. It meant, he only needs to focus on the exact moment before the attack and he will be able to deflect it.

"Wow, you figured it out rather quickly!" Kakarott smiled as he became visible again.

He was exhausted, bleeding from several injuries and even his breathing was uneven. Still, Vegeta was in a similar shape and he was in real trouble. He figured out how to deflect the attacks, but he couldn't find a way to attack. Because the only moment when the Ki was detectable was shortly before the impact, otherwise he would just fight blindly.

"Why are you visible?" The Prince asked, trying to gather his remaining strength.

"Am I?" Kakarott asked and looked down at himself, calling: "Damn, it already wore off! You see? It takes a lot of power to maintain this form, that's why I told you that I wasn't planning to use it yet."

With that said, he fell to the ground and remained sitting there, with his back leaned against the wall. Vegeta relaxed; the fight was over and he has won. Of course he has, he was the Prince. Still, again it was undeniable how much Kakarott improved. He was sure, he had the potential to become an elite fighter one day. Based on techniques alone, he was already superior to them. Why? Bardock wasn't anything special, though he improved somewhat during the last two years, but Gine wasn't a formidable opponent either. Radditz was a typical 3rd class… so there was no logical explanation for Kakarott's potential. What was the most outrageous; the techniques which he acquired from the slaves were rather useful.

"So, are you interested to learn any of the techniques?" Kakarott asked, with a smile.

Of course he would be interested, but he wasn't just going to say it, unlike somebody, he had his pride. The most fascination was this last one, but some others could also come in handy in the battlefield.

"I don't need any cheap tricks, I'm the Prince of all Saiyans. I will wipe up the floor with everybody!" He called and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"But… you also learned how to sense Ki and repress it!" Kakarott said. "How come you needed that?"

"Shut the hell up and don't challenge me, damn it!"

"Isn't it rather like you want to learn it, you just cannot admit it? I don't think the slaves are very fond of you, but I can teach you!"

"Go jump in the lake! I already told you, I don't need your help; anybody's help!"

"Ok, if you mean it" Kakarott shrugged and got up from the floor.

Vegeta wished that he could just tell the truth, but he barely confessed it to himself. Also, in case he would show interest in any techniques, that would show him week; since a strong warrior would already have the sufficient skills. Wouldn't he?

**A**s Bulma was fixing the control panel outside the gravity room, she could see Vegeta in there, training. By now she wasn't surprised that he was in there in almost every hour of every day. The only other saiyan, who spend a similar amount of time there was Kakarott, but even he wasn't training right now. She liked to watch him, even though at times she couldn't see his movements at all, when he picked up speed. In the last 2 years she saw him almost every day, but their conversations were short and he only spoke with her, when it was unavoidable. Her projects were more and more about training equipment recently and she was the only scientist, who was not working on the classical task, like engines, fuel, armours. By now the scientists were all skilled and knowledgeable and they were working together as a team. It helped a lot, that nobody was killed from them in the last 6 years and they had more experience as any other team before them.

"Vegeta, I need to turn off the gravity, to reboot the system" She called through a loudspeaker.

"Fine" Vegeta grunted and grabbed a bottle of water, while he leaned against the wall.

As soon as the gravity was turned off, Bulma walked into the room and opened the compartment in the wall, which stored the gravity machine. Vegeta looked at her somewhat shocked as unlike usually, she wasn't wearing her white overall, but an extremely short and tight short with a strapless top. Her long blue hair was gathered in a ponytail, but many locks came lose already. When she leaned into the compartment, Vegeta couldn't tear away his gaze from her back. He cursed; he never realised that she had such curves under her usual clothing.

"What the hell are you wearing?" He asked, but whished he didn't as when she turned to him, he also saw her breasts.

These garments were not able to hide her figure at all. Bulma turned to him, trying to be prepared for another argument.

"In case you haven't realised it, the air-conditioning is busted and it's hot like hell."

"I don't care, put something on!"

That confused Bulma; she had no idea, why he was acting so strange, just because she wore regular clothes.

"I have more clothes on than you!" She snapped, pointing at his bare chest.

Vegeta was also suffering from the heat and only trained in a short, leaving his chest bare. By now Bulma was more or less used to this sight, but she tried to remain in a safe distance.

"It's none of your concern, what I wear. In case I want, I can train naked!" He cried out angrily.

"I certainly wouldn't mind that" She laughed. "Just let me know when you do that, so I won't miss it!"

"What?" He asked and stepped closer to her, trying to intimidate her with his presence.

"Don't be like that, it was actually a compliment! You have a great body, you must know that with all the training and stuff."

He looked at her dumb folded. Was she crazy? How can she say something like that? Has she no shame at all? He already knew she was an enigma, but it looked that she can still surprise him after all these years.

"You are vulgar, Woman!" He managed to say while he blushed.

"I just told you my opinion. Anyhow, what is so wrong with my clothing?"

"It's… showing too much skin!"

"Don't tell me, that it disturbs you, because you find me irresistible?" Bulma asked, trying hard not to laugh.

Vegeta felt how his face became hot and he wanted to take a few steps back; she was way too close. He forced himself to remain there; backing off would be a sign of weakness and he wasn't weak! Damn it, she was just a mere human, how did she manage to make him feel so… well, he wasn't quite sure what he felt, but he hated it! He was a warrior, the last thing he needed was feelings of any kind!

"What is it, Vegeta? She asked on a playful tone and this time she stepped closer.

Though she immediately regretted it as by now only a thin layer of air separated their bodies from each other and she was drawn to him. She already knew that she liked him, even though she had no real reason to feel that way. He was a complete jackass, who would even kill her, would she not be so useful. Even so, she wanted to get close to him, get to know him and see his real-self, behind all his cruelness. The more she get to know the saiyans, the more she realised they were not necessarily evil, at least not all of them. They just never tried to live any other way then being warriors.

"Get away from me!" She heard Vegeta's voice and it was so threating that she stepped back, bumping her back into the wall.

They were still way too close, but she had nowhere to go, she was cornered. To her shock he stepped closer and once again, their bodies were almost touching. She gulped and not because she was afraid of him, she was afraid of herself. She felt his heat on her body and she had to struggle not to push herself to him and kiss him on the lips. She knew she was nuts, for even thinking about it, but all she could think of were his lips. Vegeta saw that she was struggling, but also felt, that it was not out of fear. Even though he was only inches away, she wasn't afraid of him. He tried to think back, just when did he lose his power over her, but couldn't remember. It was odd, she was the only one, who dared to approach him, argue and threated him as a normal person. From one side it was outrageous, from the other, as reluctant as he was, he had to give her credit. Suddenly, without any warning he felt her warm, moistly lips on his own and she pressed herself to him. At first, he had no idea what was happening and before he knew it, he was kissing her back. As he felt her fingers running through his hair, he grabbed her and pulled her even closer. He felt her hot breath on his face and her breasts pressed against his bare chest. Just what the hell was this feeling? He was with quite many women, but he never felt anything like this. And all they were doing was just kissing! On the other hand, she was the first one, who was willingly going along with it; hell she even took the lead! Just what kind of power did she have? He suddenly broke the kiss and stepped back. As he looked at her face, he could clearly see that she was disappointed. She was out of breath and her face was flushed, which just made her even more desirable. He was confused and he needed to get as far away as possible, so he rushed out of the room and only stopped, once he was outside of the palace. He needed to cool off and he knew that this time it had nothing to do with the air-conditioning, that he felt hot; it was her fault!

As soon as Vegeta left, Bulma sank to the ground and remained there sitting. Just what the hell happened between her and Vegeta? She completely lost it and kissed him! How can she be so stupid? She knew damn well who he was, _how_ he was and she failed to control herself nevertheless… Even so, why wasn't he pushing her away? It was clear, that he also enjoyed it, at least as much as her, but how can that be? He never showed any interest in her, did he? One thing was sure; at best he found her desirable, but it wasn't more as an instinctual desire, without any feelings. Why couldn't she restrain herself? Why was she playing with the fire? Still, this kiss was something, what she never expected… it has awoken such desires in her, what she never felt before and she was convinced that it was all worth it. She sighed, got up and walked out of the room to cool down. When she reached the lavatory, she washed her face with cold water several times, until she felt a bit better. As she dried herself and looked into the mirror, she saw that her face was still a bit red. Then suddenly she remembered on Vegeta's expression a second before he rushed out and she had to laugh. Even though she had no idea, what he was thinking, it was clear that he never expected for this to happen. Maybe he will think twice, before cornering her like that! It would be good for both of them as now, that she tasted his lips, she was sure she will have to struggle much harder to restrain herself.

**Oh well, they finally kissed; it took them long enough :D Still, they will have to face a lot of challenges along the way, so the story is far from over!**


	9. Chapter 8 - New enemy

Chapter 8

New enemy

"**A**re the rumours true?" Gine asked, looking at Kakarott.

They were in their dining room, having breakfast together. While the palace had its own dining hall, saiyans eat breakfast at home and only went to the shared area for lunch and dinner. Apart from the royal family and the elite warriors, nobody lived in the palace, even though when they were not on missions, they spend a lot of time there. 2nd class warriors lived at the near vicinity of the castle, while 3rd class warriors had houses a bit farther away. Thanks to Kakarott's promotion, his whole family owned to a new house, which was quite spacious, compared to their old one. They had 4 rooms, a living room, two bathrooms and a kitchen with dining area. Every house was the same, with the same layout, furniture and garden. Saiyans had only a few personal items, hence it was hard to differentiate between their homes. The walls were painted white, the floor was made from chestnut wood, without any decoration or frill. All the furniture was made from wood; saiyans had an alien race, who was enslaved to make them these, as they were really skilled with woodwork.

"What rumours?" Kakarott asked back, while he struggled to gulp down the food in front of him.

"That you are on good terms with the Prince" Bardock added.

He was eating the same way as his younger son, while Gine and Radditz did the same activity slowly and with grace.

"I don't think anybody is in good terms with him. He is a complete jackass with everybody!"

"Kakarott!" Gine called and jumped up from the table. "Don't you dare to speak about him like that!"

"But it's true, everybody knows it."

"Still, thinking something and speaking out something is not the same" Gine sighed and sit back down.

"We have trained a few times. He says he is not interested in my new techniques, but he is." He shrugged.

"I agree with him, you are stupid to learn from slaves" Radditz commented, while he threw a side-glance at his brother.

Radditz was 18 years old, but he was really tall, unlike Kakarott, who was still a midget at age 14. They were never really close to each other, however it was common with saiyans; they were not even so close with their parents and children.

"They have a lot of cool techniques."

"It's true" Bardock nodded. "I just learned how to use this bright blinding light and it came in handy at my last mission."

Bardock had to struggle with himself a lot, until he finally asked his younger son to teach him what he learned from the slaves. The breakthrough happened just a few month ago, when he was sent on the same mission with him and he witnessed his powers. He was pretty disappointed when he learned that Kakarott was also born as a 3rd class, but on that day, he has seen his enormous potential.

"Even so, it has no saiyan origin" Radditz signed.

"Scouters, armours and spaceships are also based on alien technology and we are still using those" Kakarott objected.

"That's completely different" Radditz answered. "Where are you getting this, anyway?"

"Bulma told me."

"Are still spending time with her?" Gine called.

"Vegeta is also around her a lot" Kakarott shrugged.

"True, I find it quite strange" Bardock added. "On the other hand, she is the best scientist, I find her quite competent."

"She certainly has skills, I'm just concerned about her attitude" Gine explained. "She is too disrespectful sometimes and that might get her killed one day."

"I have to go, we will go to Aoi-sei with Karris, to get the gold" Kakarott said and got up.

Then, he grabbed an other croissant and wolfed it down, before he went out in the door.

"I also have to go" Radditz added and he also left.

While Gine cleaned up the table, Bardock got up and stretched. He walked to the fridge, picked out an apple and began to eat it. Gine looked at him with an amused smile; he just couldn't have enough to eat. She still remembered the day, when she was sent on an assignment with Bardock and somehow they connected right away, even though they have hardly ever spoken before. Bardock wasn't an extraordinary fighter compared to all, but he was pretty good among the 3rd class warriors. Both he and Gine hoped that their children might be born with a bigger power level, but both Radditz and Kakarott were rather weak. After Radditz, Bardock wasn't even planning to see Kakarott before he was sent away, thinking that it had no sense bonding with him, as it will be months, maybe years before he will see him again. It was an unexpected surprise when he got promoted to a 2nd class and Gine was happy for him.

"Just one more year and we will get out of here" Bardock called.

"Actually, I'm quite sorry for it" Gine answered, stepping to him. "I never expected to enjoy spending so much time on Vegetasei, but I actually like it. It's nice to always wake up in the same house, next to you."

Bardock smiled and kissed her lightly on her lips. Just for that second his hard and serious face became warm and friendly. Even though Kakarott looked really similar to him, Bardock was always serious, while his son constantly had that goofy smile on his face.

"There are certainly good aspects" Bardock answered, this time pulling her closer, pressing her body against his."

As he kissed her again, this time with passion, he was also happy being able to spend so much time with his family. Due to the constant missions, sometimes he couldn't see her for months as they rarely had the same assignment. Most of the saiyans chose their mates based on their power level, aiming for the strongest one to make sure their children will be strong enough to survive the constant fights. Gine wasn't bad in their class, but Bardock might have ended up with a stronger wife, if he wanted to. Still, for some reason he choose her, never fully aware that what he felt for her was love and it was mutual.

"**I **feel some strange Ki coming from the planet" Kakarott called as they prepared for landing.

Karris was controlling the ship, so he failed to detect it first, but now, as he concentrated, he could also feel it.

"I see what you mean. It's so unfamiliar, I don't think it's coming from the Aois or the humans" Karris nodded.

They could hardly wait until they finally landed and then rushed out of the spaceship. They saw smoke coming from the direction of the mines, so without discussing it, they were flying towards it. As soon as they landed, they saw 4 warriors, who were wearing almost the same armour and they also had scouters. Still, they were no saiyans; they looked rather like crocodile-people with brownish skin and pointy teeth.

"Who the hell are you?" One of them asked, as his scouter indicated him that they had company.

The crocodile-guy was in progress of snapping somebody's neck, who looked like Gray. It was hard to tell though, as his whole face was covered in blood. Kakarott checked for his Ki and even though he could feel it, it was very weak.

"Let him go!" He called, pointing at Gray's limp body.

"Sure, let me just kill him first and I can play with you after…" but he couldn't quite finish it, because Kakarott hit him full in the face, covering the distance between them in a slit-second. The creature staggered back and dropped Gray.

The remaining 3 soldiers looked at the young saiyan shocked and they raised their arms, where they each had a big cannon attached and fired on him. While Kakarott easily avoided the energy balls, he tried to survey the damage done by them. He felt a few injured around them and saw two lifeless bodies, but it looked like these soldiers also just arrived here. One of them was the little girl, whom he saved when he first came here. Then it hit him; he felt rage, not because these soldiers invaded a saiyan territory, it was due to the fact, that they killed the inhabitants here. People, who had no chance of defending themselves as they had a small Ki. At that moment, he could see the irony of the situation; he as a saiyan was doing just the same, until recently and the only reason why he hasn't killed others was due to the fact that the King ordered them to train. He jumped from one to the other, killing them one by one with an instant blow.

"Behind you!" Karris called.

Kakarott turned and saw that 6 other soldiers rushing towards him and 3 others from the other direction. Karris wasn't much of a fighter any more, but this time he had no other choice then to fight. Now he was really happy that he never stopped with his training, even though he spent less time with it as the others. He didn't really had time to worry, as Kakarott killed the new attackers with ease, apart from the only one, who was killed by him. They looked at each other and without speaking they nodded and walked towards the woods. They detected at least 20 other creatures a few hundred meters from them and based on their experience, they could be quite sure that they also had scouters. In order to avoid detection, the two saiyans went there on foot and as they arrived to them, they saw a spaceship with an oval shape, standing on many small legs. It reminded them a little bit of spiders. They split up and tried to kill the enemy one-by-one. After a certain point they were detected, but mostly thanks to Kakarott they managed to kill all of them.

"Who the hell are these guys?" Kakarott asked as they entered the now empty spaceship.

"I have no idea, but I find it strange that they have similar technologies as we" Karris answered.

They arrived to the control room and while Kakarott looked around randomly, Karris checked the computers, trying to find out their identity.

"Maybe they bought the same technology from the Inthros and the Thages."

The Inthros was a very advanced race, who had a constant population growth and usually they were in need of new planets. They sold the armours and the battleships for the saiyans, among other things. Thages were not that advanced, but they had interesting technical solutions; they invented the scouters.

"Could be…"

Karris was soon lost in the database and after a couple of minutes Kakarott gave up on him and decided to explore the rest of the ship on his own.

"**S**ire, Karris is asking for a hearing. May I let him in?" Borage reported, stepping into the Throne room.

He was one of the elite fighters and the King's most trusted man. He was a bit of a cocksucker for the Prince's taste with all his way too polite talk and constant bowing. Still, he had to deal with him as his father was away with some of the elite fighters on a high level mission.

"Karris? That's peculiar, he rarely seeks out my audience" Vegeta smirked.

He was aware how he unnerved the scientist and it was always a pleasure to feel how others were intimidated by his power.

"What shall I do, Sire?"

Just go and fuck off… Vegeta thought. Compared to Borage, he actually even preferred the woman's insolent style.

"Let him in and leave us alone!" He sighed.

Borage bowed and left the room, just so that Karris could enter the next moment. It was clear, that he was rather unnerved, especially as the heavy wooden door closed behind him with a thud. Vegeta first couldn't pinpoint what was so strange about the guy, until he realised that his overall was thorn and blood-stained and he appeared to have some minor injuries. How? He was a scientist, not a warrior; a real disgrace to their race.

"Aoi-sei was attacked" Karris began and he became somewhat relaxed as he saw that the Prince was hooked on to his words after only saying this much.

It was understandable as nobody ever attacked a planet, which was under saiyan's control; their race was feared all over the universe. Who would dare to make such an attempt to take over their colonies? As Karris explained everything, Vegeta became more and more outraged.

"Did you identify them, based on the data from their computers?"

"I tried to hack it, but it's encrypted. I wanted to fly here with the spaceship, but it got damaged during the fight. I was thinking bringing along Bulma with me, if you allow it."

Vegeta cursed, he also had the intention to visit Aoi-sei to see the soldiers with his own eyes (well, their dead bodies at least) so it would mean he will be forced to share the same spaceship with her. That was undesirable, even without their recent encounter a few days ago. He hasn't spoken with her after that and he had every intention to avoid the confrontation as long as possible.

"Fine, let's go immediately!"

"I need to get some tools, but it's the middle of the night. I'm sure Bulma is already sleeping…"

"Just hurry up damn it, I will get her! We assemble in the hangar in 10 minutes."

"All right" Karris nodded and hurried out of the room.

Vegeta sighed and followed him. He stopped near the lab, where the sleeping quarters of the scientists were and checked for Bulma's room. He simply busted in, not bothering with knocking, but he stopped dead, as soon as he saw her. She was just about to go to sleep and now she was standing at the other end of the room (which meant only 2 meters away from him) in a white nightgown, which wasn't just rather short, but also slightly translucent at given places. As be backed off, he hit the door and closed it behind him, but he failed to realise it as he was too occupied to remove his gaze from her body. First Bulma wanted to cry out and throw something to him, yet when she saw his mostly stoic face confused, she realised that as unlikely as it was; Vegeta was the victim, not her.

"Have you ever heard of knocking?" She asked. "You know, even though you are royal and stuff, you have no manners."

She couldn't fully repress her smile, while she took a step towards him.

"Manners? I'm not the one, who is dressed as a concubine!" Vegeta snapped, desperately trying not to lower his gaze from her face.

"Although that would be quite funny" She answered and as she saw the mental image from him dressed in a nightgown, she just had to laugh.

Vegeta hated this feeling, it seemed like he lost the ability to think rationally when he got distracted by temptations of fair flesh; at least when that flesh belonged to her.

"We don't have time to engage in meaningless dialogues, I came here to get you, because we are going to Aoi-sei."

"You mean right now?"

"Of course now, why else would I be here at this time at night? Get dressed at this instance and let's go!"

Bulma nodded, then remained there, standing. Vegeta looked at her questioningly, until she finally explained:

"I thought you will leave until I change my clothes, but if you want to stay, by all means…"

She couldn't even finish it, Vegeta was already out, slamming the door behind him. Bulma giggled, while she got her overall from the wardrobe and put it on. It seemed like she had found a new kind of entertainment in Vegetasei; the Prince himself! It wasn't necessarily a good sign, that she actually enjoyed even just watching him from a distance and especially after their kiss, her head was full with him… still, recently she was rather happy when she saw him and they talked or argued (mostly the later).

"**S**o you left Kakarott there?" Bulma asked, when they were already in the ship, flying towards Aoi-sei.

Karris just programmed the autopilot and walked to Bulma, who was checking the toolbox, making sure they had everything.

"Yeah, we decided it's for the best. Whoever those attackers were, others might come to check on them."

As Karris and Bulma were discussing all the happenings, then the technical stuff about the spaceship, Vegeta was sitting at the back of the spaceship, silently watching them. He has already seen how familiar they are with each other and once again it stirred a strange feeling inside him. Just what was so special about this woman? It was like she hexed him, forcing him to experience feelings, which he never felt before. The desire for her was bad enough (he couldn't deny it any more, at least to himself), but this… when he saw him with Karris, was something else. He closed his eyes and tried to switch of his mind, he just couldn't listen to all their jabbering! It was lucky that they landed within 30 minutes and once he was out of the ship, he felt much better.

"Wow, I'm here! I cannot believe that after so many years, I was finally able to return" Bulma called with a bright smile on her face.

"Oh, you are back!" Kakarott called, peeking out from the other spaceship.

He had his hands full with food, indicating that he managed to locate their food supplies.

"I feel so light!" Bulma called and as she jumped up, she managed to reach 5 meters high, before she landed on the ground. "Wow, this is amazing!"

"We are not here for you to play!" Vegeta snapped, looking at her.

"Sure, sure, I know!" She nodded, still unable to stop smiling.

She was just simply glad for this change in the scenery, even though she got used to live on Vegetasei. It's not like she has given up on her plan to escape from there, it was a long and complicated project. So far, she couldn't find any suitable planet and she kept thinking about the legend of the Dragon Balls. It would be so nice to restore Earth to its previous state and wish her parents back to life. As soon as she entered the control room, Karris began to fix the engine, while Vegeta checked out the dead soldiers.

"They armours are not as good as ours" Kakarott said, stepping to the Prince.

"Still, it's the same design, without the modifications of the woman" Vegeta stated.

"Yeah, Bulma really managed to improve it a lot!"

Vegeta ignored the remark and crunched down to one of the bodies. First he removed the armour, then the scouter, studying them with care. He also removed the cannon from the soldiers arm and fired it. It wasn't very impressive compared to the saiyans' power, yet it was powerful enough to kill a few people with it. Just who the hell were they and more importantly, who ordered them to mess with the saiyans?

**I hope you liked the Bardock-Gine scene; hopefully it wasn't too cheesy **** I mean for their character.**

**Also; Vegeta learned the importance of knocking on a girl's door :D**


	10. Chapter 9 - Travelling

**Here is the new chapter as scheduled :)**

Chapter 9

Travelling

"**Y**ou have to go Inthros-sei, I won't be back in the next few days!"

"They won't be glad to trade with me and I hate that damn device…" Vegeta said.

He was looking at a screen in the throne room, where his father's image was shown. The King was still out on a mission and as it took them longer to conquer the planet, he was still there. Vegeta could clearly see the dead bodies scattered around in the background.

"I'm not exactly surprised that they don't trust us. Anyway, I want you to bring a scientist with you as well. This technology what they offered seems interesting, but I want to make sure, it's not a bogus."

"Great" Vegeta nodded and he already knew which scientist he will have to take.

The Inthros race was their best source to get advanced technology, but they were paranoid and though to deal with. They just contacted Vegetasei, informing them that they need a new planet, sending them over the details. The target was a well-defended technologically also advanced race's home and normally due to their standard protocols, they would have declined the deal. However the Inthros offered a mechanism, called "cloaking device" which had to ability to make any of their spaceship invisible. That would give them a huge advantage over their enemies, so the King decided to take the deal. Vegeta had to travel to one of their planets to close the deal and as it turned out, he will have to take the woman. This time, before he actually busted into her room, he knocked.

"Come in!" He heard her voice and stepped inside.

Bulma was slightly surprised seeing Vegeta, more so as he entered her room like a normal person. It looked like the last time really threw him off-balance and that made her smile. In a way, despite being a jackass, he was also cute.

"How can I be of your service?" She asked and put down the book next to her.

She was sitting on the floor on top of the tatami and she was reading. She was still wearing her overall and for that, Vegeta was grateful. She found many books in the storage rooms, some from Earth, some from other planets. Right now she was reading a romance novel and even though it was pretty late, she just couldn't put it down and go to sleep.

"Meet me in the hangar at 6am!" Vegeta answered and was just about to leave, when she asked jokingly:

"Don't tell me, you are asking me out on a date?"

"A what?" He asked despite himself and turned back.

She sometimes referred to strange terms, which were foreign to saiyans and it was bothersome.

"Right, saiyans don't date, they court. You have all kind of strange habits, it's hard to keep track of it."

Vegeta decided, not to even react to the part that she thought he wanted to court her. He, the Prince of all saiyans, would never lower himself even to be interested in a mere human. Sure, he raped other women, but that only served the purpose to satisfy his desires or torture them or both. Regardless; he would never label those actions as interest.

"You say it, like you are informed about our traditions."

"Well, I do live here, don't I? Also I have read several of your books, though they are either about battle strategies or dealing advises. This particular information was shared with me by Kakarott."

"That clown! He should have better things to do, then having meaningless conversations with you."

"And what about you?" Bulma asked and while she got up, she stretched.

In case she really has to meet him at 6, she should really sleep as it was almost 2 in the morning.

"What about me?"

"Aren't you just having meaningless conversations with me?"

"I just came here to inform you, that we will go to Inthros-sei."

"Actually, you just informed me that I need to meet you at 6 am, you never said anything about leaving the planet. Do you need me as an advisor for some new equipment?"

"Stop pestering me for information, I will inform you once we are on board. And grab an armour for yourself!"

With that said, Vegeta left the room, slamming the door as usual. Why was it so hard to deal with her? He had to interact with many slaves over the years, but he never had issues with any of them. Ok, he had, but he always killed them instantly and the problem was solved. Killing her was out of the question and what made it worse; she was also aware of it. He never felt so cornered in his life, which worsened every time she got too close to him. Just a few moments ago, he also had to struggle not to press her against the wall and have sex with her. This had nothing to do with honouring her; he was rather afraid that he couldn't do it. Not because she would pose any physical objection, it was rather that she might go along with it willingly! That confused him on so many levels, that he decided to avoid her as much as possible. So far, he failed with it miserably; it almost felt like fate had head-on other intentions as he.

**B**ulma arrived just in time a few hours later and they boarded a small spaceship. She was very excited to spend some time with Vegeta, more so as it turned out this time only the two of them will go.

"Isn't it dangerous to go to them alone?" She asked.

Vegeta finished to set the coordinates and turned to her answering:

"I'm the Prince and the strongest saiyan. I can take care of myself!"

"Well sure, I was just wondering what if they plan to ambush you?"

"They won't. Despite their superior technology, they fear us. That's why they are only letting one saiyan land on their planet with one additional scientist, if needed."

"I don't blame them."

Vegeta got up from the front seat and sit down on the floor as far away from Bulma as possible. From the pose he was in, she guessed he was trying to meditate or something. She sighed; while she wasn't expecting to have hours long conversation with him, she was hoping for a bit more. She knew him, there was no point trying to talk to him right now, so she grabbed one of her bags and pulled out a book. Even though the story was quite interesting, Bulma had a hard time to concentrate on it, as her thoughts kept returning to the Prince. She finally gave up and turned to him:

"Say, do you want to play Shogi?"

"What?" He asked and looked at her.

"I think you might actually like it, it's a strategic war game, played on a board with small figures."

"How stupid do you think I'm? How could I be interested playing war on a board?"

"You can at least give it a try, we still have a few hours until we arrive to the planet, so what do you say?"

As he remained silent, Bulma considered it as an agreement. She pulled out the board from her bag and set up the pieces.

"I even replaced the writing on them with your saiyan letters" She explained. "I tried to teach it to Kakarott, but he miserably failed to understand it."

"It's amazing how every time he opens his mouth, he proves that he is an idiot." The Prince commented.

"He is not academically gifted with these things, that's for sure" Bulma smiled and began to explain the rules.

As Vegeta went along with it and they began to play, he tried to justify his actions by saying that he had really nothing better to do and at least this way he got himself distracted. Despite every attempt not to let her presence disturb him, he wasn't very successful. Now, even though they were playing together, it seemed to work. After 30 minutes he actually found the game intriguing and he wondered how a primitive race like humans were able to comprehend its complicated rules, let alone invent it.

"I won!" Bulma said with a smile.

Truthfully it was a harder victory as she expected. Even though Vegeta never played the game before, he gasped most of its aspects and put up a decent fight.

"Let's play one more time!" He demanded and began to put back the pieces.

"Sure, but be prepared for another defeat!"

Bulma was happy that she came up with the idea to play and he was going along with it. More so, as while he was thinking about his next moves, she could study his face, without the danger of being detected. Saiyans in general were not the brightest, at least that was her initial idea. Then, as she spent more time with them, she realised that they were intelligent; the problem was rather that they rarely focused on intellectual things. Their education system was practically non-existent; they were not ill-literate, but beyond the basic abilities to read and count, all they focused on was training. First, she thought Karris was just an exception; while he was slower on up-take as the other scientist, in time he made a good progress and by now he was able to comprehend advanced science with ease. Kakarott was an idiot, she had to agree there with the Prince, but he also has his moments and she heard he was actually good when it came to battle-strategies. Vegeta was beyond any doubt intelligent, despite not being intelligent enough to recognise the value of life; any kind of life. Now she was convinced, that while saiyans were not the most intelligence race, they could be, in case they would focus more on studying and developing their analytical thinking.

Vegeta's thought were on a similar track, but he was only thinking about her, not in general about the humans. She had the worst attitude ever, no manners and no shame, still she was bright. He also found it impressive that she found a way to work with other races and even though she wasn't the most obedient slave, she was almost respected by the saiyans. He heard how some talked about her skills and preferred her help, rather than the rest of the scientists. Her ideas, especially the gravity room, were invaluable. This was exactly what disturbed him so much, it almost felt like he needed her…

"I won again" Bulma commented "But it was a really close call this time. I'm really impressed, you know! It took people years until they played at such a high level as you, just after 3 hours of playing!"

"Don't compare me with others!"

"I most certainly wouldn't, you are quite unique, rest assured!"

Vegeta tried to determine whether she was mocking him, but as he looked at her, she seemed serious.

"We are landing soon, you should change!" He called.

"Uh, sure, though I don't think this is my style" Bulma grimaced, pulling out a saiyan armour with the latex suit.

"It's not a fashion show, it's for protection damn it!" He snapped.

"I get that!" She snapped back and entered the bathroom to change.

When she came out a few minutes later, Vegeta was quite shocked to see her. The suit was fitting her perfectly and it even enhanced her great figure, which was mostly hidden under her normal loose clothing. Her hair wasn't in a messy ponytail as usual, but hang loose, reaching until her shoulders.

"Now I look like a freakin' saiyan" She commented and as she realised how the Prince was eyeing her, she asked smiling: "How do you like it?" And she turned around, to give him a better look.

Vegeta gulped, but managed to shout:

"You look nothing like a saiyan, with your blue hair and your Ki, which is almost non-existent!"

"It's extremely comfortable though" She said, ignoring his remark and put her hands on her chest "even here!"

"You are vulgar!" Vegeta called and had to turn away, as this was the only way not to see her.

He felt a strong urge to also touch her there and that outraged him.

"Me? I wasn't touching you and I never asked you to also check it out."

"That's it! I will just leave you here, until I return!"

"Yeah? Then who will validate their cloaking device? You cannot tell, whether it's a hoax or not, that's why you brought me along."

She walked to him and stopped a step away from him.

"Don't tempt me!"

"Tempt you? With what exactly? It's not like did anything" She whispered, then closed the gap and leaned close to him, whispering in his ear: "yet."

As she was pulling back, she realised she was also tempting herself with this previous action; she was just too drawn to him to be so close. Instead of straightening up, she touched his mouth with her lips and they were kissing, once again. Bulma felt how her body became hot in an instant and as he run his hand down her back, she shivered. It was wrong, she shouldn't have done this, she should never get involved with him at any level, but despite knowing it, she just couldn't care at that moment. She felt like she was drunk from his kiss, while she was clinging to him, like her life depended on it. Vegeta felt also hot and he knew it had nothing to do with the temperature; it was the effect, she had on him. As he felt her breath come and go with his, he also realised that something was not right; something inside him began to change, which could never be reversed. It almost seemed like this longing for her wasn't just physical, but something more, something he already hated and decided not to dwell upon it right now. He felt, he already had an erection and as he pressed it to her, she moaned with pleasure. He wanted to stop, but for the first time ever, he seemed like he lost control of his body and it was acting on its own. Bulma on the other hand wanted to go on, while she knew she should stop. Does she really want to have her first time with him, who felt nothing for her, beyond desire? Because at least it was beyond doubt, that he wanted her physically, just as badly as she wanted him. The problem was, that she won't be satisfied just having him physically; she was in love with him and for that, she hated herself. Finally she gathered her remaining will-power, broke the kiss and whispered:

"We should stop!"

Vegeta didn't quite thought so, despite his own doubts; he was just too aroused, to let her go. He leaned back and continued to kiss her, pressing her against the wall. This time, when Bulma tried to push him away, he didn't budge. That was when Bulma became conscious of the weight of her foolish actions; he won't give a fuck about her feelings or will, when he can go ahead and do whatever he wants to do. He will simply rape her, she knew she wouldn't be his first victim and for sure not the last one. She became rigid and felt how the panic had its iron grip on her. To her utter shock, Vegeta stopped and pulled back slightly, but still blocking her way. His own actions shocked the Prince as much as it shocked Bulma. He was dead set on having her, ignoring her objection, yet somehow as soon as she was unwilling, it wasn't quite as much fun as it was just a few moments ago, when she was responding to his kiss. So he stopped, shocked to confess himself; he will only take her, when she will do it willingly. He cursed, backing away so she could step away from the wall. He was trying to convince himself that he wasn't losing his mind; taking her will be like a battle, what he has to win. Given her temper and attitude, she can't be such a hard nut to crack anyway. It might be of some interest, doing things like this, as an exception. As he looked at her stunned face, he had to smirk. This might be enjoyable after all!

"Preparing for landing in 3…2…1…" They heard a robotic voice from the command centre of the spaceship and had to grab the chairs, in order to remain standing.

"Follow my lead and don't do anything stupid!" Vegeta called and he stepped to the door to open it.

Bulma looked shocked at him; he was acting like nothing happened! She was still confused, failing to make any sense from his actions and she had trouble figuring out her own thoughts as well. Why did he stop? More to it; why was he smirking at her, before he stepped back? Just what the hell was he thinking? She assumed he always took what he wanted and yet, he backed off, while it was clear that he wanted her. She couldn't believe that he somehow felt sorry for her or cared about what she wanted… yet what other explanation was out there? Here she thought she had him all figured out and now she learned how wrong she was. The Prince was so much more as it met the eyes; more complicated as she ever assumed he would be. When they first met, he was obviously just a sadistic, egoistic monster, a killer with no regards to anybody or anything, but now… now she wasn't that sure any more. Did he change? Or was she just so much in love with him, that she desperately wanted to believe that? She had no idea and she wanted to scream for not knowing anything anymore. She wanted to grab him, push him to the ground and look into his head with some mind reading device!

"Move!' She heard him and she saw that he already halfway out of the ship, while she was still standing at the same place.

"I'm coming, no need to make a fuss about it!" She answered, took a deep breath and went after him.

**So, the story is moving along; they had some heated moments again. ****Will they ever manage to get close to each other though at this rate? :D**


	11. Chapter 10 - Trading

**Thank you again for the reviews, I really appreciate each one of them **

Chapter 10

Trading

"**P**rince Vegeta, how unusual for you to come here!" A tall, long blond haired man called, as soon as Vegeta and Bulma left the spaceship and stepped on the ground.

He was humanoid, almost human looking with the only difference that he had yellow eyes. He wore a dark green uniform, what really reminded Bulma of the clothing of the soldiers in the army. He was around 25 years old, with a slim, but strong body structure.

"Baton, I should have known the King will send you!" Vegeta answered.

"Don't tell me, this is your scientist?" Baton called and looked at Bulma. "She has a fine body. Are you sure she is not rather one of your concubines?"

"I'm here you know!" Bulma snapped. "And I bet I'm a much better scientist then you have ever met as I managed to upgrade your armours quite a bit."

"Wow, you don't have to lose it Honey, I was actually a compliment!"

"If you call that a compliment, just stick them where the sun never shines!"

"That's quite enough, both of you!" Vegeta called and stepped between them.

Baton shrugged and pulled out two small bracelets. Vegeta obediently stretched out his hand and let him out it on him, Bulma unwillingly following his example. The landing zone was a bit similar to a human military airport, although it was smaller and they placed it at the top of the palace, on the roof. As Bulma looked around, she saw that the planet was a wasteland, with rocks and barren ground and she seriously questioned herself, how this race managed to stay alive here.

"Come after me!" Baton called and led them inside the palace.

Unlike the place where the saiyans lived, this was gorgeous, full with paintings, sculptures and all kind of decorations. Even the tiling had patterns, just like the ceiling.

"What are these?" Bulma asked, pointing at the 5cm wide silver coloured bracelet.

"These are equipped with small chips, so they can always monitor where we are and they are also limiting one's power level to a minimum."

"Really? I don't feel anything different."

"Because your power level is not significant, even at your natural state."

"So you are weaker? Does it mean I could take you?"

"Not even in your dreams, woman. I'm still much stronger as you will ever be!"

Vegeta hated the device, but this was the only way the people on Inthros allowed him or any other saiyan to be on their planet. He could still kill some of them in case he decided too, but with the bracelet on, they could kill him with their advanced weapons.

Baton led them into a room, which looked like a huge library and commented:

"You need to stay here, until the King is ready to speak with you."

"Tell him to hurry up, I don't have time to waste."

He nodded and closed the door after them. The room was impressive, even at human standards. It had shelves which reached until the ceiling which covered all for walls except of the windows and the door, while additional huge shelves were added and ordered in rows. Close to the door they had a reading area, with huge desks and comfortable chairs and what Bulma liked the most were the small area at her right, which was furnished with couches and armchairs.

"Damn it, I hate them" Vegeta cursed. "They are always making us wait; trying to show their importance."

"I really wish you would have a library on Vegeta-sei like this one!" Bulma called and she was already off, checking out some the nearest shelves.

"We have one, in the royal wing."

"Seriously? Can I go there any check it out?"

"Not until hell freezes over. The royal wing is off-limit for slaves."

Bulma sighed, but decided to let it slide as she was too excited to see what was here. She really hoped that it will be a long time until the King will see them. It was confusing, as their books was on the same language as people used on Earth and she asked herself, whether they were somehow related to humans in the past. They looked almost humans as far as she could see those, who walked around the floors, apart from the strange yellow eye-colour. She was so lost in the documents, that she hardly realised when Baton returned with the King on his side. The King was an old man with grey hairs and a huge grey beard and as he was rather fat and wore red garment, he reminded Bulma of Santa. Until Vegeta and the King discussed the details about the trade, she kept checking out the documents, hoping to find something useful. She was fully ignored by the other and her guess was it was because she was a mere slave, not important enough to be bothered with. That was a grave mistake as she found a more then interesting book about the armband, she and the Prince were forced to wear. She desperately tried to memorise so much about it as possible, before she had to go over to listen to the rest of the deal.

"When can we see the blueprints?" Vegeta asked and signed Bulma to come to him.

"Our leading scientist is out, he will only return late at night. How about we treat you as guests and we can finalise the deal tomorrow morning?"

Vegeta had a fair idea, that it was all just a made-up story and the King only wanted to show him, he was in power, even though in reality they both needed each other. However he heard a great deal about them from his own father, hence he was prepared to stay for the night even before the King came up with the story.

"Fine" He nodded.

"In this case, let me show you your room!" Baton got up and led them out of the room.

They got two rooms next to each other, both of them spacious and furnished with design.

"I will send a servant with your dinners, within a couple of minutes" Baton said and left.

Bulma wanted to go over to her won room, more so as she couldn't quite trust herself, after what happened on the way here. Just as she walked towards the door, Vegeta asked pointing at his bracelet:

"Do you think, you can disable this?"

"As a matter of fact, I just might be able to do it" She answered, then looked around and set her eyes on a coach, which was at the opposite side of the door.

Vegeta followed her eyes and they both sit down on it. He wasn't sure it was the best idea, prolonging her stay here, but he really hated that his powers were repressed and figured she might just be the right person to solve the problem.

"I found some interesting documents about this thing in the library. I haven't had the time to read everything, but I think I figured something out" She said and pulled out a screwdriver set under her armour.

This time, as she was working, she wasn't bothered by his closeness at all. Once her mind was set on something, she was able to shut out everything, focusing on the task before her. Vegeta noticed it and felt a bit disappointed. On the other hand it was a good sign that she was able to focus so much on disabling the device. After 10 minutes, they heard a knock on the door and jumped up as the servant entered the room with a huge plate. He put it down on the table and left, without saying a word.

"I'm starving, let's eat and I will continue it afterwards." She called and walked over to the table.

This time, he decided not to argue as he was also quite hungry. They sit down at the opposite side of the table and filled their plates. The food was rather delicious, grilled meat with salad and chocolate cake as dessert.

"How much time will you require?" He asked, while they were eating.

"I think I almost have it, but it's hard to tell. This technology is nothing like what I have ever seen. Hadn't I found the book about it, I wouldn't even know where to begin."

"You look like you are enjoying it…"

"I'm, most certainly. Maybe science is the same for me, as fighting is for you; I was fascinated by it, ever since I can remember. I have never wanted to do anything else and although I feel terrible about what happened with my home planet; I'm quite aware that staying there, I would never had an opportunity like this. I learned so many things, seen so many alien technologies, way more advanced than those on Earth, that in a way, I might even consider myself lucky."

She sighed, not quite sure why she was telling this to him; it's not like he cared. Still, as they were eating together and talked, it felt relatively normal. After dinner, they went back to the coach and soon enough, she managed to disable the device, at least partly.

"You can repress your Ki, right?" She asked, looking at him.

"Of course I can!"

"Then do so; in case they have some device, so they wouldn't detect it! Also, while I could disarm the tracking chip, I wouldn't really do so."

"I don't care about that, I just want to have my powers back" The Prince called and as soon as he felt his power return, he became at ease.

"Do you want me to activate it again, in the morning? Otherwise once they remove it, they will know I tempered with it and I think they wouldn't be happy."

"Fine" He agreed. "Now remove yourself from the premises and go to your own room!"

Bulma got up and walked to the door, without any objection. Before she left she turned back though, saying:

"As usual, it was a pleasure helping you out, there is really no need to thank me!"

When she entered her room, she threw herself on the bed, which was very comfortable. It was ages ago that she slept in one and while the tatami wasn't bad, this also felt nostalgic; it reminded her of her early childhood, when she was still living on Earth. She has never slept so well since years as she did that night and she was rather disappointed, when she had to get up in the morning. She went over to Vegeta's room and knocked; she had to activate the device before the King sent for them. As she heard Vegeta's voice allowing her to enter, she walked in.

"Hurry up!" He called and sit down on the coach.

"Good morning to you as well" She sighed, but obeyed.

This time as she knew what she was doing, she managed to activate the device within 5 minutes and soon after Baton came for them. Once again, they were led into the library, where the King and the lead scientist (and old man, almost like the King, just with a slimmer body) were waiting for them.

"So, how much time will it take for you and your team to get the planet?" The King asked, after they greeted each other.

Since yesterday Bulma became aware of the fact, that since the first time she met him, Vegeta was acting like a royalty. He wasn't friendly, but he was polite and after all, he had manners! He wasn't swearing, accusing or even threatening and he had quite an advanced way to deal with them. While Bulma knew, saiyans were also treading with other races, not just destroying them, so far it never occurred to her, that for those interactions, they might have needed manners. Once more, in a very short time she has seen one of Vegeta's sides, which she never ever assumed to exist. The Prince made similar discovering when he looked at her later, when she was studying the blueprint with the scientist of Inthros. Her enquiries were polite and professional, she spoke with them as somebody elite, despite her being a mere slave. It could only mean, that humans might have had an advanced culture and were familiar with courtesy. Hence her behaviour on Vegetasei might be partly because her objection regarding her being a captive. She was seemingly able to put that aside now and discuss the technology professionally. Who would have thought? Vegeta shook his head, trying to get rid of this train of thoughts. He shouldn't care how she behaved, it had no meaning at all. He was glad when the meeting was finally over and they were heading back to the spaceship.

"How long will it take, until you can equip the first ship with this technique?" He enquired, when they took off and were already in space.

Bulma already changed back to her overall (thank Kami for small favours) and she was sitting on the ground, with the blueprint scattered all around her, while she way typing something on her laptop.

"It's a rather complicated design and knowing how impatient you are, I'm not willing to guess just yet. Also I need to consult with the others as well as there are some grey areas."

"How long?" Vegeta asked again, irritated.

"Gee, chill out!" She said, getting up and walking over to him.

She stood behind him and while he tried to turn around in his chair to see her, she put her hands on his shoulders so unexpectedly that he twitched. When she began to massage his shoulders, first he had no idea, what she was doing and wanted to object. Still, despite her strength and rather small hands, the pressure caused by her was calming and pleasant and he started to relax. Bulma smiled as she continued to massage him. It was nice, being able to touch him so casually, even though he still had his shirt on. She felt how his muscules relaxed slowly under her touch and she wished this moment would last at least for a while, but she knew he could stop her any time, despite the fact that he seemed to like it. Her expectations proved to be right, when he suddenly got up after 10 minutes and turned to her:

"Just what the hell are you doing?"

"It's called massage. Don't tell me, you never heard of it? On Earth, people who worked out required such services quite often."

No, he has never heard of it and never even assumed that simple touch can have such an enjoyable effect. At least, when it had nothing sexual in it. This, as she run her hands through her shoulders was entirely different, from her touch when they were kissing. Damn it, he was really losing his mind. It would be a good thing to finally leave Vegetasei for a few months, as he already knew that he will be away for a while to get the planet for the Inthros. He hoped, once he will be far away from her, he will have a clear head.

"You still haven't answered my question" He pressed.

"If you insist" She sighed and walked back to the pc and sit down on the floor again "my guess is, 4 months. Maybe more, maybe less. I can tell you more, after a week or so, when we started to build it."

The trip to home was rather quick, especially for Bulma, who got lost in her work so much, that once again she has totally forgotten about Vegeta. When they landed, she went straight to the lab to speak with the others and start the project as soon as possible.

"**W**e got attacked again, this time they landed on Mahu-sei" Kakarott explained.

He was sitting in the dining area, just finishing his late dinner. He looked exhausted which was understandable as he was out fighting more, then he was resting on Vegetasei. Chichi gathered the plates and brought them back to the washing stations, while Bulma remained there, sitting in front Kakarott. When Chichi also returned and she sit down next to him, Bulma asked:

"How bad was it?"

"They killed a whole village before I arrived with my team" He answered and he looked really angry.

This was something new, something Bulma and Chichi never seen and right now he appeared to be a ruthless saiyan, though when they looked into his eyes, there was something there, which seemed alien to saiyans. He looked like he was troubled and hurt, not by the fact that somebody again invaded their territory, but rather because he was unable to save everybody.

"You seem angry" Bulma commented.

"Of course I'm! They killed so many people and I arrived late."

"But you saved the rest, right?" Chichi asked.

"Yes, they were not so powerful, but… it is still terrible. I'm not sure what I will do, once this war is over, but I'm sure I can never go back, killing people… not after everything. I killed most of the people on Earth, in my Oozaru form so I don't remember on much and for that I'm happy. I feel terrible for what I have done and I have no idea, how I never felt any regret before."

"You were only a baby when you were sent to Earth and we already forgave you for your actions" Bulma said and Chichi nodded. "We know, that you are not evil and it wasn't really your choice."

"I also killed others, when I arrived back. The only reason I stopped was because of the King's orders and now due to the war. I… I just cannot go back to that saiyan, who I was before!"

Kakarott had such a troubled face like an old man who had his whole life behind him, while he was only in his teens. Still, the things he had seen and done made him so much more mature as a child in his age should be. Both girls felt sorry for him and didn't know how to help to ease his consciousness.

"You can always escape from here" Bulma sighed. "I was thinking about it all time, even though right now I'm not sure if that's the best idea. I mean with the war going on, Vegetasei is still the safest place."

Kakarott looked at her, like she had grown a second head, but as he thought about it later on, it wasn't so crazy after all. Right now, he wouldn't think about abandoning all of the colonies, but later, when the war is over and he is still alive, escaping might be the only option. He recalled her first conversation with Bulma and now, he finally understood it "_power is not all about destroying" _and_ "stronger people are there, to protect the weak ones, not to kill them_".

"I really don't know. Maybe I should just disgrace myself so they assign me to work as Karris…" Kakarott sighed.

"When the time comes, we will figure out something; I'm a genius after all!" Bulma called, trying to sound more confident as she felt.

Truthfully she was totally lost about the course of actions to take. One thing was sure; they had to wait for the war to end. Going out in the universe with an unknown enemy lurking around would be suicide.

"I have to go back to the lab" Bulma added and after she patted Kakarott's shoulder to reassure him, she left.

"Say, do you have some dessert, by any chance?" Kakarott asked, looking at Chichi.

Suddenly he was back to his old carefree self, what made Chichi happy.

"Of course I have, I baked something for you this afternoon" She smiled and within seconds she appeared with a huge bowl of cookies.

"Wow Chi, you are the best!" Kakarott called with his mouth full, making her blush.

**W**ith the attacks becoming more and more frequent, the saiyans had to give up on their 3 years training plans and ended up going back to business a year sooner. Even so, every one of them acquired huge powers, each in proportion with his/her own class. This combined with their advanced battle strategies resulted to the fact that they repent all the attacks with minimal loss. Even so, most of them were again on the way, travelling from one planet to the other as it became more and more challenging, to defend all 20 of their colonies. They didn't have the men power to guard all of the planets, hence they were forced to learn logistic the hard way. They set up additional headquarters on two of the colonies, with healing tanks and spaceship stations, resulting that from the eight scientist, only 2 remained on Vegetasei; Bulma and Karris. The rest were divided among the 2 new stations, responsible for maintenance and repairs. While Bulma and Karris worked on the cloaking device, all other improvements were out of question as the constant repairs took up everybody's time from the science department.

**Really soon I also plan to shed some light on the new enemy, who appeared and are attacking the saiyans. Who can they be?**


	12. Chapter 11 - Gift

**So, here is the newest chapter; with some surprises! I decided to post an additional one again this week. Hope you will enjoy it!**

Chapter 11

Gift

**B**ulma stood there shocked; she couldn't believe her eyes. Four months passed, since she and Vegeta got back from Inthros and she hasn't seen him since then. First, he was assigned to lead the invasion against the planet what the Inthros wanted with agreement of the trade, then he was stationed on the secondary headquarter to help to coordinate the attacks against the enemy. She missed him so much, that she even felt physical pain, more so as she was also worried, that he might die. It didn't help that she knew how crazy she was; love had no logic at all. He was just walking out from the royal wing and stopped before the entrance, when he felt her Ki and turned around. They were looking at each other silently for a while, before she couldn't help herself. She run to him and hugged him tight. Vegeta wasn't prepared for this and almost staggered, while he heard her whispering:

"I missed you so much!"

He had no idea, what to do. Truth was, he also missed her, but it took him a whole month to figure it out. He had no real attachments before, not even to his home planet as he was away a lot of times. Sure, it was a good feeling that he had a home where he could come back, but as he got used to all the travelling, he was never homesick. First, he caught himself, that he was thinking about her at nights and sometimes even during the day when the fights were on pause and he could rest. He was angry and confused at the same time; he wanted to see her. Why? First he thought it was physical craving, but even though he was with a few women while he conquered the planet, it wasn't satisfactory at all; he wanted _her_. Now, while it was physically nice to feel her body pressed against his own, he also felt something else, which he couldn't quite define. She wrapped her arms around his neck and now she pulled back and looked into his eyes. Why was she missing him? He should have been her enemy; his race destroyed her home, kept her as slave, yet somehow, she seemed to be attached to him. It was beyond logic and he heard himself asking:

"Why?"

"I don't expect you to understand it, not now, maybe not ever" She answered with a sad smile then she kissed him.

He responded instantly, unable to restrain himself. It was such a long time ago, when they kissed on the spaceship; he really craved it. He was partly aware that they were on the floor, but as it was quite late, it was unlikely that somebody would see them. Still, he lifted her up, not breaking the kiss and she wrapped her legs around his waist. Without any effort he entered the royal wing with her in his arms and went into his room. As he closed the door, he pressed her against it, while their lips were still locked. He felt her sweet scent and became aware how her breast hardened. He grabbed one with his hand and squeezed it, causing her to shiver. This time, Bulma was sure, she wanted to sleep with him. She gave up reasoning with herself, she also gave up on the idea, having him emotionally, at least right now. If she can have his physically, that would be enough. It has to be enough, as there was no alternative. She helped him remove her overall and he removed his own armour within an instant. As she was standing in front of him in her underwear she couldn't miss his hungry look as he run his eyes through her body. The Prince only had his boxer on and once again, Bulma could see his perfect body. It was dark in outside, but the stars where shining through the windows and they could see each other quite clearly. She touched his chest and run her fingers through it, then he grabbed her again and they ended up in his bed, on top of each other. She felt her lower body throbbing; she wanted to have him inside her and she was relieved when they both got rid of their underwears. She felt his manhood pressed against her leg and she slid down to have it at the right place. She wasn't sure, whether he just never heard of foreplay or he was just too aroused, she was glad that he entered her almost instantly. Vegeta felt how she shivered under his touch and he was surprised that she was so wet. As he only had sex with women who were not willingly doing it with him, he never expected this. He felt a small resistance at one point, and when he broke through she winced. He stopped and broke the kiss to look at her, but she pulled him back and kissed him feverishly. While she felt a small pain inside her lower body, it wasn't really bad and she was still too aroused to stop. She was relieved when he continued to enter her and the pain almost instantly subdued and once again, she was enjoying his touch and his closeness. As he began moving inside her, she moaned with pleasure and her whole body was on fire. Vegeta was shocked by the passion she had and even the power she threw up her hip to meet him was unexpected. First, he was sure she wasn't a virgin any more, given the way how they kissed in the lab and on the spaceship, but now he felt it; it was her first time being with a man. He heard her crying out his name as she reached the climax, but he went on and she came again, before he also reached the peek an ejaculated inside her. As he rolled off, she snuggled close to him and her breasts were pressed against his arm. She was fully out of breath, her face was red, but she looked beautiful.

**S**omehow he fell asleep and when he woke up a few hours later, naked under the blanket; he had no idea, what happened. Then it hit him; he slept with her, it wasn't just a dream. Without looking at his right sight, he knew she wasn't there anymore; her Ki was gone. She was gone. It was good, he doesn't have to threw her out. At least she was aware, that last night, didn't mean a thing for him. It was no wonder he fell asleep, but he was still angry with himself, for letting his guard down in front of her. Still, fact remained that he hasn't slept more than a few hours since days as all the strategic meetings took up most of his time, not to mentioning all the tasks, he had to organise. Only his will-power was keeping him awake during his last day there. He got up and went to have a shower, while he tried to gather his thoughts. He had his own bathroom connected to his room; which was quite spacious in itself. The toilet was separated by an other door, while in the bathroom he both had shower and a huge bathtub. Everything was white and spotless, his belongings placed in a strict order on the shelves. He also had a sink, with a big mirror placed above it, with built-in spotlights. He threw a glance at the bathtub and walked to the shower instead. He needed cold water to come to his senses, not a hot bath to relax. As he stepped in and felt the water running down his body, his senses became sharp once again. Soaking under the water, he remembered how she stopped him on the spaceship a few months ago, while yesterday, it was clear that she had no objections, at all. As he tried to figure out what might have changed her mind, he cursed, outraged by the fact that he was thinking about it, when he had better things to do. He had an attack to organise and he will have to leave soon, to get back to the secondary headquarter. He shouldn't give a damn about her thoughts or motivations. Now that he got her, he could finally move on… but deep down he felt, that it won't be possible. Even now, only a few hours after their intercourse, he knew that nothing changed or actually… he just wanted to have her even more. Why? He was never interested in any women, especially not after he raped them. Fact was, what happened yesterday wasn't a rape, not by a long shot, still… was her passion and willingness causing him to fail to forget her? Partly so, but he felt like there was something else as well, something what he couldn't quite explain, not even to himself. He cleaned up, stepped out from the shower and wrapped a white towel around his waist, while he dried his hair. He threw and angry look toward his reflexion in the mirror, before proceeding to his room and getting dressed.

**B**ulma was already working in the lab, or she was trying to at least. Karris was out in the hangar and as the rest of the scientist were on other planets, she had the whole place for herself. She was happy and sad at the same time, but she was glad she decided to take the next step and spent the night with him. Whatever might happen, she will never regret that decision. Still, once he felt asleep, she knew she had to go. She was sure, he wouldn't want to wake up next to her and cuddle. She sighed, thinking how she would have preferred to sleep in his strong arms, instead of leaving. She looked at his face for a few minutes, enjoying that she could do it, without him ever knowing it, before she got out of the bed. He must have been exhausted, as he never woke up during her attempt to get out. She hardly bothered to take a look at the room; she saw that it was big, the bed was huge and comfortable and just like the other chambers, it had no decoration at all. She saw a door leading to a bathroom and took out the shape of a couch and two armchairs and as she walked to the door she also saw some wardrobes. The sheets on the bed and the couch with the armchair were most probably sapphire shade of blue, but it was hard to determine only by the starlight. She took a shower and went back to her chamber to sleep, but after a few hours she woke up and couldn't sleep back any longer. When she finally gave up, she decided to go to the lab and start an early day, by working on her current project. Yet her mind refused to concentrate on work, she caught herself recalling the happening of their encounter. She never expected it to be so overwhelming and now, she was more in love than ever. Also while she wouldn't call Vegeta gentle, he wasn't really rough either, he even noticed when she felt the pain and stopped for a second. She felt fatigued and tired, while on the other hand, she was full with energy. She had no idea, what to expect seeing him again and what made it worse, she had no information about how long he will stay on Vegetasei. The war was still ongoing, more intense than ever and most of the saiyans were out there, fighting to defend their territories. For once, the slaves all over the planets were actually glad for their presence, as right now saiyans were the lesser evil, compared to the new enemy.

"**H**ey Woman!" Bulma heard Vegeta's voice a couple of hours later.

She wasn't expecting to see him again so soon, but it looked like he had some urgent business with her as there was no other explanation. She forced herself to act natural, first checking out his behaviour. Her guess was, that last night wasn't even worth mentioning in his eyes, she knew that it had no special meaning for him. As strange as it was, she was able to accept it, still she felt how much it hurt her. The only other way was not to have him at all and that was way more painful than this. She knew she was silly, she might have been able to get a proper boyfriend (most certainly not a saiyan); she had the looks and the brain, but she wanted him. She turned around and saw him standing in the doorway, with his arms crossed on his chest. As usual, he was wearing his saiyan armour.

"You see, you should be able to remember my name by now; it's Bulma. Stop calling me Woman all the time!"

The Prince decided to ignore her remark and he was relieved that she behaved like she usually did; she started to argue.

"I have something for you, come with me!"

"What?"

Now she was confused; it almost sounded like he wanted to give her a present, a gift of some kind. It was so not like him, that she remained sitting, unable to fully comprehend his words.

"Don't make me repeat myself!" He called and left.

Bulma stood up and followed him, having no idea, what to expect.

"Where are we going?"

"Stop pestering me, you will see in time!"

She was so insufferable with all her questions. He wanted to give it to her the night before, that's why he left the royal wing, where they met. Then… he got distracted and forgot all about his original intentions, but now he remembered and he had to handle it. They stopped at the end of the floor by the sleeping chambers and he opened one of the doors, revealing a man in his 20s, sitting on the floor. His face was a bit beaten up and his short brown hair also partly covered a minor head injury. His green eyes looked at the Prince with so much hatred, that it was shocking. He had a similar white overall on as Bulma and it confused her as she has never seen the man before, although the uniform would indicate, that he was a scientist.

"He was one of the best scientists on the planet which we cleaned out for the Inthros, I got him for you."

"Excuse me?" She asked back, gaping at him.

"You were constantly complaining how you always have too much to do and an extra hand would be required, so here you go!"

This time, Bulma turned to the man and asked:

"Sorry, can you excuse us, just for a sec?"

Without waiting for his answer (though she couldn't miss his confused face), she closed the door, shutting him inside and grabbed Vegeta's arm, pulling him away from the door, to the other side of the floor.

"What do you think you are doing?" He asked and pulled away his arm angrily.

"Me? What the hell are _you_ doing? You sounded like you are giving him to me, as a gift or something!"

"So?"

"Vegeta, you cannot treat people as mere objects; you cannot give a person to an other person like he is some kind of tool! Owning somebody is wrong."

He had no idea, what she was talking about or what to reply to that. He expected her to be happy upon receiving an extra hand, resulting to lessen her workload, yet she seemed angry.

"Fine, if you don't want him, I will kill him!" He shouted and stepped forward, but stopped as she jumped in front of him and shielded the door with her body, protesting:

"No, stop! You are missing the whole point! I do need him, just not the way you think…"

He looked at her as she was seemingly struggling with something. Right now he had no idea, what was going on in her mind and he seriously doubted he will ever understand her. Not that he wanted to or cared! Finally she sighed, then smiled at him saying:

"Thank you!"

She just realised something; while the way he was doing it was entirely wrong, the fact that he got an extra scientist to lessen her work was nice; it almost suggested he cared about her on some level. Bulma never suspected he might be concerned about her, yet some of his actions were clear indications towards this.

"You better not miss any deadlines and start working with him immediately!" The Prince called and left.

When he decided to spare the scientist's life a month ago, he was bewildered by his own actions. He kept telling himself it had no significance; other saiyans also bought back useful slaves to Vegetasei or to the colonies all the time. Even so, at that time he was thinking about her, not about the general usefulness of the man, lying on the ground in front of him. When he showed to be unwilling to work for the saiyans, he also used her logic to force him to change his mind; he threatened to kill the man's wife and suddenly he complied. While he was willing to give up his own life, it turned out, he would do anything to save his woman's life, which was ridiculous and pathetic.

"**I**'m so terribly sorry!" Bulma said a few minute later, when she led the new scientist out and they entered the lab.

"You don't have to be, it's not your fault" He answered with a sigh. "I just really hope, that in case I will work properly, he won't kill her."

"Who?"

"My wife. He is keeping her hostage in a cell, forcing me to work here."

"I see. I know this will sound crazy, but you are the second slave, he bothered enough with not to kill and transport here. In a way, you are lucky, even though I know how wrong that sounds."

"Maybe you are right…" He agreed looking on the ground with a troubled face, before meeting her eyes saying: "My name is Tesh, I'm from Bahle, where I was working at the most advanced science centre with my wife; Tima."

"I'm Bulma and I'm from Earth, which is occupied by another race now, just like your home planet."

"How long do you work here?"

"It's more than 5 years now; I arrived here when I was 13. But before that, I spent more than 3 years on Aoi-sei, working in the mines, so this was quite a nice change, considering everything."

As she talked with him, she found him ok and she was sure he would be a good addition to the team. It turned out, her wife was also a scientist, so over time when he proved himself wordy, they might also let her work here; meaning that she actually got two extra members, not just one. Karris was also happy when he met Tesh and even though Tesh himself was looking at the saiyan with hate, he soon realized that he really wasn't like the rest of them, nor was Kakarott, who dropped by a couple of times, whenever he had a chance.

**Quite many thing happened in this chapter – as promised. I still struggle a bit whenever I write lemon scenes, so I would be interested what you think **** Also, Vegeta is changing a lot, but he has still a long way ahead of him!**


	13. Chapter 12 - Feelings

**I'm back! I'm hoping I can still keep you all interested in the story **

Chapter 12

Feelings

**A**s Kakarott walked into the kitchen one late afternoon, Chichi greeted him with a bright smile:

"I have something for you!"

"Is it food?" He asked back with a hopeful smile.

"It's a cake, but a very special kind. Close your eyes!"

Kakarott obeyed, though not fully understanding why he had to do so. He felt Chichi guiding him to a small table and pushing him down to the chair.

"No peeking!" She called and opened the fridge.

While he couldn't see, he instantly smelled strawberries and fresh sponge and as he sniffled he felt himself dribbling. He heard her setting a plate in front of him and when he was finally allowed to open his eyes, he saw a very strange but appetising cake. It was indeed a strawberry cake, covered with red marzipan and garnished with small strawberry slices. As he looked at it, he also saw 15 small candles, which were burning.

"Wow, it looks good!" He cried out and wanted to grab it, but she hit on his hand, saying:

"Can you at least wait until I slice it up for you? Also, it's not just a cake, it's a birthday cake for you! Happy birthday!"

"Birthday cake?" He asked, confused.

"Yes. I know saiyans never celebrate birthdays, they are not even caring about it, but I thought you would be happy to have your own cake. It's a nice tradition, what we had on Earth."

"So humans always got cakes on their birthdays?"

"Yes!"

"That sounds fun" Kakarott said with a goofy smile on his face.

"Now you need to blow out the candles and wish something!"

"Ok" He nodded and obeyed.

Chichi smiled at him and cut the cake. She wasn't surprised at all, when he ate almost every slice at the end.

"That was the best cake, you made so far. You are really good with these things!"

"Oh, stop flattering me, you are making me blush!" She cried and hit him on the back, while she felt that her face became warm.

Kakarott not fully anticipating the impact almost beheaded the plate in front of him. He had the tendency to forget, that Chichi was much powerful as humans in general. Sure, she never came close to a saiyan, still she was impressive.

**K**arris felt foolish, even compared to himself. He was watching a woman from a tree, who was putting up the bed-linen on a huge rope, to dry them. She recently got transferred from Aoi-sei to help out the cleaning personnel on Vegetasei. She was wearing a light-blue blouse and dark trousers with tennis shoes, just like the other slaves from the cleaning crew. Somehow, every time he had seen her, he felt something strange. Karris was 27 years old and of course he has slept with several women, but this one was somehow different. Her name was Chessa, she had long wavy red hair, blue eyes and a great body.

"What are you doing up there?" He heard Bulma's voice and almost fell down from the tree.

"Nothing" He answered, jumping down with red face.

He felt how strangely she looked at him and to his dismay she noticed Chessa. As she looked back at him, he knew that he was caught red handed and there was no use denying it.

"Wow, don't tell me you like her!" She smiled.

"No… well she looks good…"

"She does. I know her, she was 4 years ahead of me in school. You already know her, right?"

"Sort of" Karris answered.

He remembered that he met her a few months ago on Aoi-sei, when he repaired one of the machines. She told him, that even though he is helping them, she clearly still despises all saiyans, for destroying her home and making her a slave.

"Oh, so she already hates you" Bulma said and Karris felt like she was reading his mind.

"She hates all saiyans" He sighed.

"That can easily change and I'm one of the best examples."

"I know; you are friends with Kakarott…"

"I'm also friends with you. Anyhow, why are you watching her?"

"I don't know. I just keep thinking about her, since I talked with her on Aoi-sei."

"That sounds like you like her. You see, I might be able to help you out. She is from Earth, so I know how she is thinking. However, I need to know your intentions."

"My intentions?"

"Yes. Do you simply want to have sex with her?"

"What?!" Karris cried out and as Chessa looked back hearing it, he grabbed Bulma and pulled her behind the tree.

"Gee, I never thought it's so easy to make saiyans blush" She laughed looking at his face. "So?"

"That is not something, what I need discuss with you!" He snapped.

"In case you want my help, it might be. Whatever you saiyans do within your own race, what you call mating… humans would not be happy about it. And she is a human. I'm also a human, making me just the right person to help. Let's try it one more time; do you just want to sleep with her?"

"I… I don't know! Actually I never thought about sleeping her, until you mentioned it… I just wanted to get to know her. Like I did it with you."

Karris was too embarrassed to look into her eyes and he felt himself stupid for even discussing this in the first place. On the other hand, they were friends. It was thanks to her, that he learned what the true meaning of friendship is. He trusted her and respected her; no longer caring about the fact that she was a slave.

"Good answer! You see, there are ways, you can make her change her mind about you." Bulma said and that's how she began to give "dating advices" for Karris.

First, he was reluctant to listen to her, he blushed more than one time and he simply left on one occasion. Still, as he finally forced himself to talk with Chessa, using all the advices what he learned from Bulma, he felt how the ice began to melt and soon enough she was willing to talk with him.

"**H**ey Karris!" Chessa greeted him one day as she was coming out from the laundry room, with a huge basket of clothing.

"Let me help!" He said and without waiting for her reply, he grabbed the basket and began to walk towards the garden.

"Do you realise, that all the other saiyans are looking at you rather strangely?" Chessa asked.

There were not many saiyans walking on the floors, but whoever saw them, looked at Karris like he was crazy. It was known, that he was familiar with the other scientists who were slaves, but so far he never approached others, who were also working as slaves in the palace.

"Who cares? I'm already an outsider with my scientist carrier path" He shrugged.

As they entered the garden and she put the garments on the rope, Karris was simply sitting under a tree watching her.

"I'm hot" She remarked as she finished and also sit down next to him to rest a bit.

"Yeah" He answered without thinking, then as she looked at him surprised, he corrected himself: "I mean I'm hot as well!"

He felt himself blushing slightly as she kept looking at him and finally he had to look down, not being able to stand her gaze.

"Say Karris, what do you want from me?"

The way she said his name sounded so different! He generally enjoyed listening to her voice it was sweet and calming.

"Nothing! I mean I want to be friends, that's all."

"Friends… you are saying it like you know what it means."

"I do. Maybe you are forgetting something; I'm not an average saiyan."

"I'm beginning to realise it, but it's just so hard. I mean why were you helping on Aoi-sei? I also heard you did the same on the other colonies. How come?"

"First, Bulma asked me to do so, she was worried about you and the others. Then, I'm not sure when, but I ended up enjoying it. Just like when I was demoted as a scientist from a warrior. The King thought it will be a practical joke and I had to agree with it. Nobody ever expected that it will work out, but it did. I wasn't much of a fighter anyway and I most certainly never enjoyed it."

"That still never prevented you from killing."

"No, that's true. I blindly obeyed my orders, thinking it was the way it is supposed to be. It took me years until I learned that war and killing is not the only way of co-existing. I can never give back all the lives what I took, but I can try to redeem myself in my own way as long as I'm alive."

Chessa looked at him, trying to figure out whether he was serious. There was one thing though, what she knew about the saiyans; despite being killers, they were not liars. She also had to give him that; he was indeed different as the rest of them. Still, it seemed impossible that he just wanted to be friends. While on the other hand, he could have forced her to do anything. Anything apart from liking him, because feelings cannot be forced upon anybody.

**O**ne day, Bulma again found something invaluable in the storage rooms; DVDs with movies on them. She got so excited, that she run over to Chichi and they watched one of their favourites straight away, on her laptop. Kakarott had no idea, what a movie was, neither did Karris, but once they were forced to watch one, they found it rather entertaining. A few days after all those movie nights, Bulma decided to watch one on her own. It was already pretty late, but she was working in the lab, making a desperate attempt to finish something. As her brain refused to work after 2am, but she wasn't sleepy at all, she put in a movie and decided to watch it. She already acquired a big coach in the lab and moved there, placing the pc in front of her, on a smaller desk. Somehow, she failed to read the description of the story and she ended up watching a horror. All the lights were turned off, the only light was coming from her pc's screen and she became more and more frightened as the plot moved on. Suddenly she heard the floor cracking behind her and she cried out in fear, jumping up and grabbing the first thing what was next to her; a screwdriver. Somebody turned on the lights and as her eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness, she recognised Vegeta, who looked at her rather amused.

"Don't ever do that again, you almost scared me to death!" She called, then she realised something.

The movie was about a serial killer, who tortured his victims in the most cruel ways and got hunted by his victims corpse and she was now looking at a man, who was responsible for entire races' extension. Still, she felt safe with him. She had to laugh, realising the full irony of the situation.

"Sorry" she managed to say. "What brings you here so late?"

"What is this?" Vegeta asked, pointing at the screen, where the movie was paused.

"Oh, it's a movie. Hmm, let me try to think of a way to explain it briefly. Basically people are pretending to be somebody else and they act out a story, what never happened in reality."

"What kind of retarded idiot invented it?"

"Actually, some of them are pretty good. Come to think of it, you might actually enjoy this one, it's pretty brutal. Sit down!"

The Prince looked at the screen, then back to Bulma until against his better judgement he occupied the place next to her.

"You haven't missed much, it only started 10 minutes ago, but I will "rewind in" for you" She commented and restarted the movie.

While Kakarott and Karris were fascinated by it within a few minutes, she wasn't so sure about the Prince. Still, she was happy just to be able to sit next to him in the semi-dark, doing something normal for a change. Sure, she would have preferred to cuddle with him, instead of just sitting next to each other, but hey; he was at least in her close proximity. She was painfully aware that their relationship wouldn't last; it cannot last, still she forced herself not to think about it and just go with the flow. It wasn't just the fact that he felt nothing for her, there was also a separate reason. He was a Prince, she was a mere slave; it just couldn't work out, regardless how she thought about it. Maybe it was for the better though; losing him because he will end up marrying somebody elite was better, then losing him as he will simply get bored of her.

Bulma decided to focus on the current happenings and she never expected the result; it turned out Vegeta was indeed interested, but instead of being scared, he watched it as a comedy show. He was laughing at the scariest scenes, while she had to struggle not to close her eyes and keep looking at the screen. As she thought about it, in a way his reaction was logical. He killed so many people, that killing in itself couldn't be scary for him and she was sure he has seen more dead bodies as he could count, hence walking corpses again, didn't really had much effect on him.

"It was interesting, wasn't it?" She asked smiling, when the movie ended and she turned on the lights again.

"It was retarded, just as I thought" He answered.

"I do realise it; from your perspective, it wasn't scary…"

"Is this supposed to be scary? Why?"

"You see… humans did not really kill people, because it was punishable by death or by imprisoning. So when they see a killing in so much detail or look at a corpse, it is frightening for them."

"Are you saying that in case a human kills another human, he gets killed as well? How is that any different?"

"Well… it is different, because in case he is not punished, he will kill again."

"But killing him is ok? How can you justify that?"

"Even humans had long discussions about it and that's why at some countries, he just ends up in prison and spends his remaining life there."

"It sounds like a waste of resources, not mentioning that living in a prison is more cruel than death. Death, even with an extensive torture only takes a few hours/days, while living locked up means years. Any after this, you are saying that we, saiyans are merciless? We are; but why would humans be better?"

"Humans were not perfect either" She answered with a sad smile. "Neither was their logic flawless."

They looked at each other in silence and as Bulma realised that last night was surfacing in her mind, she tried to get herself under control, by asking:

"Why did you come here?"

Vegeta grunted as truthfully he had no idea. Originally he wanted to back to his room after he finished the strategy meeting with a few of the fighters, yet somehow he ended up in the laboratory. More outraging was, that he felt some kind of strange joy, when he realised she was still there. As he had no idea, why he came here, he was perplexed what to answer. They were still sitting on the coach next to each other, their bodies not touching, but only separated by a thin layer of space. Suddenly acting upon an urge, he leaned closer and kissed her; avoiding the answer. Bulma was startled at first; this was the first time he initiated the kiss, but she welcomed it. She responded to his kiss hungrily and as he leaned back on the sofa, she climbed into his lab, placing her legs to his right and left side. She felt how he developed a hard erection almost instantly and she moaned as it touched her lower body. Again her body was on fire and she wanted to feel him inside her. Vegeta had similar thoughts and he was on the verge of tearing off her clothes, he stopped, realising that they were in the middle of the laboratory and anybody could walk in, catching them kissing. That made him realise what he was about to do (again); it hit him with its full weight. He could never take her as his mate, that was clear and she had to be aware of it as well. She was annoying, but she wasn't stupid. Sure, saiyans had affairs until they were not mated with another saiyan, but they rarely used the same partner. He remembered how happy she was yesterday when she saw him, stating that she missed him. Upon asking her why, she refused to reveal it to him. Whatever her reason was back then, it was the same now, as she let him kiss her. He was just about to ask her again, when she wrapped her arms around his neck and by snuggling closer, her hard breasts ended up pressed against his chest. At that point, he lost every ability to think and his body acted upon its own again. There and then, he even forgot to care about where they were; he simply took her.

After the act as they got dressed again, he couldn't take of his eyes from her body, not until she was fully clothed. Then, he remembered his doubts and asked:

"Why?"

She turned back and looked at him, again with the same sad expression on her face.

"You know, I'm just unable to resist you; you are too hot!" She answered winking.

This time though, even the Prince knew that it wasn't the truth. At least just a part of the truth anyway.

"That's not all" He insisted.

"No, it's not. But I already told you, you would never understand it."

"Spill it! What do you want in return? You do have to want something, right? Do you want your freedom back?"

As he was asking these questions, he was desperate to find some kind of explanation. She just had to want something, otherwise it made no sense.

"No… just like I built the gravity room without wanting anything in return. Why is it so hard to believe that people don't always have a hidden agenda?"

"Because it makes no fucking sense! You are not stupid, you know that I can never mate you!" He cried and pushed her to the wall.

"Why would you think, that I even want to be your mate?" She asked back, also shouting.

This did it; he was more confused as ever. Putting aside anything; who would not want to be his mate, when it would mean to be part of the royal family; to be a ruler? As she looked at his face, she realised his expression was reflecting how lost he was. He was trying to find an explanation and every time he came up with one, she denied it.

"Then why? You have a reason, you told it yourself. Try me!"

"Because I love you; you egoistic, conceited jerk!" She shouted it into his face and left the room.

Vegeta was so shocked, that he didn't even attempt to stop her, he just remained there standing. As he looked at the spot where she was standing a few seconds ago, he was trying to make some sense from the conversation. He couldn't… at least not right now.

**As usual, I'm hoping you liked the chapter, even with the interlude about Karris. Also, Bulma finally said it; she confessed to Vegeta! **


	14. Chapter 13 - Doubt

Chapter 13

Doubts

**A**fter her confession to Vegeta, Bulma didn't see him for a long time. Due to the ongoing war, his tactical knowledge was once again needed on the battlefield and he spent most of his time with fighting or planning counter-attacks on one of their two secondary planets. He left suddenly, without informing her about it and with a sigh she realised, she should have known it. After all, their relationship was almost non-existent. First, she felt foolish for telling her feeling to him, later she felt relieved. At least it was out there, not that it changed anything. Normally, she would have never told him, but he kept asking and asking and she just couldn't lie to him. Obviously if not for his indifference, he should have noticed it a long time ago.

After a few weeks, for the first time ever she realised that she might have become pregnant; after all she slept with him twice. She was surprised by her own absent mindedness and she couldn't understand how this only now occurred to her. Then as she inspected her state of mind more closely, she knew; all she could think about every time she remembered on those two occasions was just how mind-blowing it was. Maybe literally as she seemed to lost her mind. As she thought about it a bit more rationally, something came to her mind; a question what she already pondered a couple of times, but never asked it from anybody. The time just became ripe for it, she had to shed some light on the truth.

"Say Karris, how come saiyans are a dying race?" She asked.

They were in the hangar, installing a cloaking device on one of the spaceships. It was early in the morning, but they were all alone in the huge place. Most of the saiyans were out on missions or occupied one of the gravity rooms to train. Karris pulled his head out from the compartment where he checked the engine and looked at her strangely, before answering:

"You know, we are always fighting and even though we win our fights, many of us die on the battlefield."

"Sure, I knew that. It's just… I know that saiyans are often raping the victims on the planet. Some of those intercourses should lead to children, right?"

"Oh, so that's why you are asking it" He said, finally understanding her question. "I thought you knew; saiyans are not compatible with other races. Even though many look similar to us, no children were ever born from a saiyan and an alien."

"Huh?" She asked, shocked.

Now that she thought about it, she has never seen any demi-saiyans, at least as far as she could tell. Was it really so surprising, that saiyans could only have children in their own race? Now as she thought about it, it might be the same with humans as well. The fact that they have similar body structure doesn't automatically mean that they are that similar from a biological perspective.

"Guess it might be a curse. I mean the way saiyan fighters behaved during invasions would otherwise result to a huge growth in our population. I'm not sure though how strong a demi-saiyan would be. Our abilities are superior to most of the races; it might just lead to degradation anyhow."

"You see, it's so crazy that I'm living on Vegetasei for a long time now and there are still things about saiyans, which I don't know."

"I'm seeing it the other way around. You only live here since a few years, yet the amount of knowledge you gathered is frightening. Especially as most of it is coming from the fact that you are surveying us."

"You know the saying; the devil you know it better than the devil you don't" She smiled.

"I guess that's right" Karris nodded.

They stopped with the discussion and continued to work on the ship, while Bulma was relieved; she could not be pregnant after all. She wondered whether the Prince even though on the possibility, or he never even gave it a second thought.

**V**egeta was walking back toward the huge spaceship what was modified to be the headquarter, when he felt three Ki. One was barely present, while the other two were clearly in distress. They belonged to the race, who inhabited the planet. Normally they would never get so close to the saiyan's headquarter, so he decided to check them out. As he walked in the forest, soon he located them. One, with the lowest Ki was lying on the ground under a huge log, while the other two were trying to get him free. They were woodworkers from the Wohal race; they were the ones, who built most of the furniture on Vegetasei. They were pretty humanoid, with dark skin and brown hair colour. Just like any other planet which became saiyan colony, the inhabitants were not really strong. It was pathetic, who even two of them couldn't lift up the log, which wouldn't cause a problem even for a 1 years old saiyan child. Without thinking he kept walking towards to them and once they realised he was there, they become white from fear. While the saiyans were now the protectors and the Wohals were happy for their presence, they still remembered how strong and cruel they were in reality. Vegeta had a smirk on his face as he saw the effect he had on them, yet he kept walking after he reached them. Then, without any visible effort, he lifted the trunk from the third man and threw it away, which caused a big rumble as it hit the ground. They all looked at him shocked, not quite sure what just happened. He started to leave, when one of them cried after him on a shaking voice:

"Thank you!"

He didn't stop or looked back, but somehow he remembered on her words about doing something without wanting anything in return. Was this just what he did? He most certainly didn't gain anything by this, but then… why was he doing it in the first place? Damn, he cursed and as he entered the spaceship and he went straight away into is cabin. He tried to focus on the report, which contained the most recent movements of the enemy, but he couldn't. His mind kept thinking about her and he threw the papers to the wall, while he jumped up and began to peace in his room. Just like the first time, when he was away, distance didn't solve his issue. If anything, it just made it worse. There were days, when he hardly ever thought about her, while on other days, she was all he kept thinking about. He could force himself to focus on his tasks, but as soon as his control loosened a bit, his mind wandered on his own. Why? Now he even slept with her and he never thought about any woman, with whom he already slept. That was a closed deal. Her words, when she revealed to him why she was with him, were so unexpected that he still had no idea, what to think about it. Why would she love him? He has never given her any reason to feel that way, he was never even nice to her. Ever. This just made no sense! He was so sure, she had some hidden agenda all along, yet he had to see how wrong he was. Because even though her words were unbelievable, he knew just from looking at somebody, whether they were telling the truth or they were lying. That skill came with his job as a warrior. She was telling the truth and that made him lost.

"Hey Vegeta, what's up?" He heard Kakarott as he entered his room.

"Damn it you clown, don't just burst in here!" He cried out and jumped to him, trying to land a punch in his face.

"But you said I should come to you as soon as I arrive" He frowned, while he evaded his punch with ease.

Vegeta sighed, then stepped out of the floor, indicating him to follow him. Kakarott nodded and soon they were in the room, which was the heart of the command centre, with all the communication devices and plans.

"I got some information from my spies, that a stronger troop is on its way to Tarek. I need you to come with me, to greet them" Vegeta said with a smirk.

"Just you and me?"

"I don't have any manpower to spare and as much as I hate it, you are one of the bests."

"Really? But I'm only a second class warrior."

"Consider yourself promoted; welcome to the elite league!"

As much as Vegeta hated it, he had to admit the guy was good. Maybe his raw power wasn't quite on the level of an elite fighter, but his strange techniques acquired from their slaves made him better and especially since this war, the Prince also learned that raw power is not everything, what a warrior needs.

"Seriously?" Kakarott asked with a stupid smile.

"Do you know me as somebody, who is joking?" He asked, crossing his arm on his chest.

That's right, he wasn't that type, which meant he was really promoted. While he was happy, he couldn't really decide what to think about it. His father just recently entered the 2nd class rank and now, he was finally an elite. Right now, he was ok with it, but as time passed, he had more and more doubt about what he would do, once the war is over. He could never revert back to his old lifestyle, that was sure.

They departed within a few minutes and soon landed on Tarek. This planet was one of Kakarott's favourite. While its primary function was iron mining, it had a beautiful landscape with rich flora and fauna. It reminded him on Earth and he decided to bring Chichi and Bulma here, once he has the opportunity. He was convinced they would also like this place. The race living here was also humanoid, just like humans, with a wide variety of hair colour and similar habits.

"Kakarott!" A little girl cried out and jumped up on him, hugging his neck.

"Trysa, what are you doing here?" Kakarott asked back, getting her off him, making sure not to cause her any pain in the process.

"I heard that some saiyans are coming and I came here to see who will arrive. I was hoping you will be among them."

As Trysa explained this, she cast a doubtful at Vegeta. Unlike Kakarott, he had a strict face and an intimidating aura. She was around 10 years old, with blond hair brained into two pony tail, dressed in a grey clothes. Suddenly Kakarott's face changed and his usually nice expression became hard. It was like she was seeing a whole other man standing in front of her; a real saiyan.

"Go back to the village, it's too dangerous here!' He called and this time, his voice was full of authority.

Trysa nodded and obeyed straight away. Vegeta looked at the whole conversation in silence. He knew Kakarott was an idiot, going around the colonies and making friends. Regardless being who he was, the slaves accepted him and looked up on him. He acted nothing like a saiyan, until he suddenly felt the approaching Ki from west. Vegeta also felt it and understood his sudden change in his mood. Now, as he was trying to sense how many from the enemy soldiers landed, he was every bit like a saiyan. His face was hard, his eyes serious and full with rage. Yet, that rage wasn't quite the same as Vegeta felt and it left him with questions. A few minutes later as they met the soldiers and he could sneak a look on Kakarott while fighting, he had no doubt, he was a fighter. It was like Kakarott had two personalities; a clown, making friends with people and acting like an idiot and the warrior, the saiyan fighter, the ruthless killer, who inflicted pain and death on anybody, who dared to oppose him. He could change from one to the other within seconds, just like he did now.

"Don't go on celebrate just yet!" They heard a voice from their right and looked there.

Most of the soldiers were lying around them dead, the remaining ones barely able to stand. That's when he appeared; a man with green skin and long green braided hair.

"I'm Zarbon, one of Freeza's strongest warrior!" He said. "I watched you fight, you are not as good as I thought.

"Oh but you are mistaken my green friend!" Vegeta answered and stepped to him. "Kakarott, he is mine!"

"Ok" Kakarott nodded, then turned to one of the remaining solders on his right, and finished him off with an energy blast.

"You are foolish, thinking that you can take me on alone" Zarbon smirked. "Not even the two of you would have a chance against me. More so, as you were already fighting for a while now, your energy must be low."

To confirm that, he turned on the scouter and checked their power levels. Both saiyans kept it repressed most of the time, so Zarbon burst out in laughing one he saw the numbers on the display.

"Those devices cannot be trusted" Vegeta answered, then began to rise his Ki, causing Zarbon to step back shocked as the number began to change.

Before he had time to react, the Prince launched his attacks and landed several punches, before Zarbon was able to gasp what was happening. Kakarott looked at the fight with awe. He has rarely seen Vegeta fight and it way a long time ago, that they have sparred. He heard how he improved during the years and his power was more and more formidable with every day. Unlike other saiyans, his attacks were precise, without any necessary movements, making sure to utilise his energy at an almost 100% efficiency level. Kakarott might be superior when it came to the number of techniques known by the two of them, but the Prince was his superior regarding precision. After just 5 minutes, Zarbon was completely beaten, hardly able to stand.

"I'm not sure who Freeza is, but if you are one of his best soldiers, I have no need to fear him" Vegeta laughed.

"You little…" Zarbon called. "I never expected that I would need to change, in order to kill you, but oh well… it looks like I cannot be helped. Just remember, nobody has seen this form and lived to talk about it, except for Master Freeza."

Before Vegeta could say anything, Zarbon's Ki increased and his form changed, making him almost unrecognisable.

"No wonder you don't want to change, you are ugly!" Vegeta laughed, but the next moment he felt a kick in his face and he was flying away from its force.

Kakarott jumped it, but he suffered the same fate as Vegeta, he also crashed into a tree, knocking it down.

"I told you, he is mine dammit!" Vegeta shouted to Kakarott, while he wiped down the blood from his mouth with her sleeve.

"You cannot take him on your own!"

Ignoring his remark, Vegeta launched a new attack, but again couldn't scratch him. Kakarott also attacked and failed again. They kept trying to take him down, but all they did, was injuring themselves in the process.

"Close your eyes!" Kakarott cried to Vegeta and prepared to use the blinding light technique.

Vegeta instantly recognising the pose obeyed and soon he heard Zarbon cursing.

"We need to think of a way to defeat him!" Kakarott called and began to fly away.

As much as Vegeta hated it, he was right. The way things were standing right now, they would only end up dead. While he was proud, he wasn't stupid; getting himself killed wouldn't solve anything. Reluctantly he followed him and they soon hid in a cave, near the mountains. They saw Zarbon flying towards them; while he still had his scouter on, he was unable to detect them as they were repressing their Ki. They sit down on the ground, trying to catch their breath. While the soldiers were not very strong, it still took some energy to beat them. Damn, if they only had the time to regenerate! But the healing tanks were on their spaceship and Zarbon would detect them there, before they were beginning to heal.

"I have never met somebody so powerful!" Kakarott called and even though he was injured, he looked excited.

Yes, Vegeta remembered, how he told him, that he only enjoys fighting with people, who are his equals or superiors. In a way, he began to understand him, somehow he wasn't enjoying killing weak soldiers any more, although he couldn't quite pinpoint when that exactly changed.

"How long can you maintain the invisibility?" Vegeta asked suddenly coming up with a plan.

"I'm not sure, I mean I'm out of energy and it required a lot of effort. I guess 2 minutes. Why?"

"I think I have a plan how we can defeat him" He said with an evil smirk.

A few minutes later the plan was set in motion. Vegeta located Zarbon with ease and before his scouter could warn him, he hit him from behind, then pulled him up from the ground and blasted an energy ball into his face, destroying the device.

"Sneaky bastard!" Zarbon cried and wanted to punch him, when he felt a kick from behind, which sent me flying.

"What? How?" He asked, looking around confused.

"I'm sorry, was I moving too quickly for you to see?" Vegeta asked with an evil grin.

"You didn't more, you were standing there the whole time!" He cried angrily as he got up.

"Are you sure? Look at me!"

Again, Zarbon felt an another kick from behind and he staggered.

"You were not the one, who did that!" Zarbon cried out an looked out fanatically.

Yet, he could see nobody else, apart from the Prince.

"Do you see anybody else here?"

"But… but… where is the other monkey?"

"I killed him. I told him not to intervene, but he wouldn't listen. That's why I left, to threw out the trash. Now, you have my full undivided attention."

"You wouldn't kill one of your own."

"What makes you so sure? I'm a saiyan and I'm quite sure you already heard about us."

Zarbon stepped back a bit involuntary. Indeed, he has heard about them, they were a feared race in the universe, who were not afraid to kill each other as well. Did this guy really kill the other one? He had to, the short one was nowhere to be seen. Vegeta laughed, seeing his expression and again attacked. Better said, he moved a bit, making the impression he attacked, but the real energy beam was created by Kakarott, who was there, making himself invisible. First, he wasn't so sure about Vegeta's plan, but as he had no other ideas, he went along with it. The Prince said that apart from the actual physical battle, occasionally a mental fight also took place with enemies, who were close in power. He wanted to make Zarbon believe, he was much more superior, breaking his mental strength, deeming him to lose his will to fight, tricking him to think, he lost.

"You will die here, you already lost!" Vegeta said and again, pretended to prepare for an attack, while it was Kakarott, who punched him in the stomach. Zarbon staggered back and coughed up a huge amount of blood.

"The fight is never over, until you give up or die!" Vegeta called and this time, he really shoot an energy beam, along with Kakarott, which run through him, making a big hole in his body.

"You… you will pay dearly for this…" Zarbon whispered, then fall on the ground, dead.

Just then, the invisibility wore off from Kakarott and he also felt to the ground, next to Vegeta.

"It was a hell of a fight!" Kakarott called with his usual smile on his face.

As the fight was over, he reverted back to the clown he was. Still, Vegeta had to give him credit; without him, he wouldn't be able to defeat Zarbon on his own.

**I'm curious what you think about this chapter. I really struggle to write fighting scenes, so I'm not sure how this ended up. I know some of you might have expected to see some response from Vegeta to Bulma for her confession, but well… he still has to figure it out I guess :D He is pretty lost when it comes to her **


	15. Chapter 14 - In between

**Thank you so much for your continuous support, reviews and follows! I'm a writer, who keeps the deadlines, so here is the newest chapter.**

Chapter 14

In between

**T**his time, when Vegeta returned to Vegetasei, Bulma was prepared. Even though she hasn't seen him for more than a year, she has spoken with him at several occasions, using the communication devices. Of course it was all work related, still she was happy to see him, even if it was just a virtual image on the screen. He never indicated that he missed her and she tried very hard to repress her own feelings, though sometimes, after those conversations she ended up in her room, sitting in the dark and trying to gather herself. When he arrived back, once again she ended up his room and they had passionate sex. It was clear, how much they craved each other and that year was making it worse. She was simply unable to resist him, not that he had much self-control either, when it came to her. She even though about the possibility to never sleep with him again, but once he returned and they kissed, she knew she wasn't ever serious about it. This time it looked like he will stay for a while and Bulma wanted to enjoy every minute with him, as long as she could. They never spoke about her confession and he never asked again why she was sleeping with him.

"Just confess that you were missing me!" She told to him smiling.

They were in his room once again, already out of their clothes, kissing on the bed wildly.

"As if" He answered with a smirk, then grabbed her and pulled her closer to himself.

As they spent more and more time together, they slowly discovered the pleasures of the foreplay and while there were still times, when he took her almost instantly and roughly, sometimes he was gentle and caring. She never expected him to be able to behave like that, but once again he surprised her. At these times, she felt so close to him, that she almost believed that they had something, that their times spend together wasn't just about sex. Once it was over and she left his room, she knew it was impossible and she was chasing false dreams. Still it was so good to believe it, even if it was just for a split second. As usual, she wanted to leave after they finished, but this time, he grabbed her, pulling her back on his bare chest.

"Vegeta?" She asked, unsure what to think.

He didn't say a word, but the way his strong arm was around her, it was pretty clear he wanted her to stay. That was a first!

"Vegeta?" She whispered again, trying to make out his face in the dark.

"Shut up, Bulma!" He called turning away his face from her.

For some reason, she felt so happy at that moment, that she wanted to cry. She desperately tried to gather herself, knowing how he would despise her for being weak and would never even understand that she wasn't crying because she was hurt; she was crying because she was happy. She snuggled a bit closer and closed her eyes, unable to believe that for the first time ever, she will spend the whole night with him. She expected to be too excited to sleep, but she almost instantly drifted off as she was exhausted.

Vegeta on the other hand had a hard time to fall asleep. When she wanted to get up and he pulled her back, his actions surprised himself just as much as it did her. Was he weak, allowing her so close to himself? It wasn't like he had a choice, it just happened. Despite everything, he knew by now that he cared about her and that frightened him. He never felt anything like this, but fact remained, he enjoyed being with her. More than just physically and that was the worst. He could have accepted the fact that she was making him crazy with her body, but it was so much more than that. When did he past the point of physical craving? Or was it always more than that and he was just too stubborn to recognise it? Since he returned again three month ago, somehow he began to notice how she felt at times. He saw when she was sad, even when she tried to hide it from him. She was fragile; he could have snapped her in two without any effort, yet she was strong. This strength had nothing to do with physical strength, this came inside from her. He never knew that strength also had different variations and he learned it the hard way. Just like the day, he realised that the respect Bulma had around the other slaves, were completely different, from the respect he had among the saiyans. Somehow during the years, his way of seeing certain things changed due to the effect she had on him. As he felt her drifting off to sleep in his arms and felt her warmth and sweet smell, he knew he wanted to have her. Not like this, not in secret, but as a mate. He knew that it was impossible though. Still the thought alone, that he was finally able to confess it to himself made it harder to keep this up. He was 21, he knew he soon had to choose a mate; a saiyan mate. Every saiyan was forced to mate eventually, making sure that they have children, which would help the race to remain alive. Once he will have a mate though, he won't be able to be with her any more. Saiyans, as unlikely as it was, were fateful to their mates, even though they mostly felt nothing for each other. Still, the saiyan law enforced it, to prevent any dispute among them. Their numbers were less and less since centuries, they had to avoid any dispute among their ranks with stern rules and this was one of them.

**O**ne morning as Bulma was getting up, she felt a sudden nausea coming over her and she barely made it until the bathroom. As she grabbed the toilet, she was thinking about what she might have eaten to upset her stomach. Sure, she was late, but based on the fact that saiyans were not able to conceive children with alien races, there was no way she was pregnant. Hence, she must have some slight food poisoning. It was easy to believe it that day, but when the same happened the second and the third morning, she began to have her doubts. Also, her breasts felt heavier and she felt fatigue many time during the day. Those were no way related to food poisoning. While her logic told her, she was pregnant, everything what she knew about saiyans, contradicted it. Damn, this planed had no such thing as a pregnancy test and while they had healers and doctors on Vegetasei, Bulma wasn't sure how much knowledge Yaoki and the others had about humans physiology. Sure they had ultrasound devices, but in this early, she would easily miss the foetus as it was quite small.

"You seem to be awfully lost in your own world" Karris stepped to her.

Just then did Bulma realise that she was staring at a scouter for Kami knows how long, with a screwdriver in her hand.

"Yes, it looks like it. Maybe I should take a walk. Do you want to come with me?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. I have something, what I want to ask from you." Karris answered and he looked a bit embarrassed.

Bulma smiled, thinking that whatever Karris wants to discuss might help her to get off her mind about her own problems. They walked in silence for a while, when they finally stopped at the fountain, which was made from stone and shaped as a dragon. It was the same place, where she first met Vegeta on her own, after coming to Vegetasei.

"So, what do you want to discuss with me? Is it about Chessa?"

Karris blushed, but by now not very surprised that she already knew. Truthfully he managed to change Chessa's mind about him during the last year and they relationship developed into quite a romantic one. While they never yet got past from kissing, he was sure he was on the right track. Until now.

"I think I did something to her, but I have no idea what! We were on a date, picnicking in the woods as you suggested and we just started kissing, when she suddenly pulled back, with tears in her eyes, while she asked "What do you want from me?" Then she simply left. I have no idea, why! I guess it's because of me, but I just don't see what I did."

"It's easy, I think she is in love with you and she is afraid."

At that point Vegeta walked towards them, but they were so deep in conversation that they never saw him. He cursed, feeling outraged that he found them alone in the garden. Just what the hell was she doing with him? Sure he knew they had to work together but alone in here doesn't really count as working. Bulma was way too familiar with him and even though she spoke about friendship and other retarded human relationship types, he didn't like the fact that she was spending more time with Karris as with him. Sure, she was also on good terms with Kakarott, but he was a clown, he was sure there was nothing going on between them. But Karris… He wanted to get moving, before getting detected and also felt tempted to crush Karris' bones one by one, but his legs refused to move for either purpose and he ended up listening to the following part.

"Afraid of what?"

"That you will hurt her."

"But I would never touch her!"

"You saiyans are so simple minded, when it comes to these things. I'm not talking about physical pain. Hurting somebody from inside, hurting their feelings, that is way more deep as any other pain. If you kill somebody's child, that's more painful, then killing the person herself."

"I have no idea, what you are talking about, I mean she has nobody and…"

"Let me just finish! So hurting a beloved one is also a way to make a person suffer, one way from the many mental pains. In case she loves you (and I think she does), but you don't feel the same way, that can crush her. Being in love with somebody, who is indifferent about you, or toying with you or just craves you physically, it's one of the worst pain, believe me! Being in love, when it cannot possibly end well… there is nothing more painful!"

Even from the distance Vegeta could see, that she was suffering and somehow he felt like she was not just talking about Karris and that woman, but in a way, she was also talking about herself. Had he really hurt her so deeply? Just like Karris, he had no idea, what this other kind of pain was, not really. Then again, it's not like he forced her to be with him! At least he knew that Karris wasn't into her; why would he try to get that other human woman otherwise? He felt strangely relieved knowing this, which led to outrage. Why the hell was he thinking like this?! He decided he heard more than he ever wanted and left quickly, making sure not to make any noise.

"Are you saying, she is afraid, that I'm just toying with her?"

"Something along these lines, yes."

"But that's not true! If I just wanted to have sex, I could have raped her a long time ago!"

"Gee, never tell this to her, otherwise she would never speak with you again!"

"I don't see why, it's the truth!"

"Let's take another approach. What do you want from her now? Now that she loves you."

"I want to take her as my mate! I want to live with her. Not like most of the saiyans live with their mates, though I'm not sure what other way there is."

"Why don't you tell her this?"

"She would never be my mate."

"Maybe not the saiyan way. What is the saiyan way anyhow?"

"Once two saiyans sleep together, they are mates; plain and simple."

"Ok, that might not be the best way. Try the human way; propose to her!"

"What?"

As Karris was listening to the whole Earth tradition he had several doubts. He was an unusual saiyan and he changed a lot since Bulma and Chessa, but this… this was just too much. Bending down to one knee, offering her a ring and asking for her hand? Saiyans chose their mates based on the strength and it wasn't rare that one of the parties were not willing to do the mating. This case, the stronger party won; either the mating was forced upon the unwilling saiyan, or in case the stronger one was unwilling, he (or she) beat up the one who was trying to force the mating and left her (or him) there, on the verge of death. After this, Bulma's advice was coming off somewhat strange.

"If you truly love her, this is the path you should follow" Bulma smiled and left him there, letting him gather his thoughts.

Did he love her? Karris couldn't really answer this question as love in itself was something alien to most of the saiyans. Maybe he did. He never felt anything like this, but does that mean it was love?

**A** whole week passed and Bulma's morning sickness was not passing. By now, she was sure she was with a child. Sure she could deny it until she will feel the foetus moving inside her, but even without that, she simply knew. That also meant, that she had to tell it to Vegeta; he had the right to know as he was the father. Just thinking about it made her shiver. She was aware that he was never aware that they could have this consequence, just like she never expected this to happen. Who would have thought that from all the races out there, saiyans and humans will be compatible after all? Before she will face him to break the news, she wanted to inspect her own feeling. She was so confused, that at first she had no idea, what she thought about it. Was she sorry? No, not at all. Was she happy? Truthfully, that was a though question. At a 20 years old woman, stranded on an alien planet she never gave any thoughts about having a baby. On Earth, she hardly ever played with dolls, she was much more interested in his father's work and played with wires and toolboxes. Having a child as a slave, wasn't the best idea, though the father is the Prince of all saiyans. What will that mean for the baby? Will he be a member of a royal family; a rightful heir with time, or will he/she be discarded as a common bastard? Regardless how she was thinking about it, she couldn't figure out his reaction at all. He wouldn't be thrilled, that's for sure. To complicate things more, saiyans were not the model parents anyway. Their offspring were sent out in the war from early age on and while later they shared the same living quarters, they were not really acting as a family. The only thing they held big interest in was the power level of their child, nothing else. She has never seen a saiyan crying over the death of a mate or a child. It wasn't necessarily because they were heartless, it was rather because they never were so close, to feel any real loss.

**W**hen Vegeta entered his room in the middle of the night, he felt Bulma's Ki. As he walked to the bed, he saw here there, tucked in. First he assumed she was already asleep as her face was facing the other way and he could see her. He undressed and slid next to her, wearing only his boxer.

"Vegeta, is that you?" She asked on a sleepy voice.

"Who else were you expecting?" He asked then heard her chuckle in response.

He put his arm around her and pulled her close. She turned back to face him and kissed him just above his eye-brown.

"We need to talk" She sighed and sit up, turning on the lights.

"We don't" He objected, also sitting up and kissing her.

Bulma needed every bit of her will power to pull back from it and tell him why she came here tonight.

"We really do" She said and squeezed his hand slightly before looking into his eyes.

"Fine, what is it?" The Prince asked defeated.

He knew how stubborn she was, so he decided to let her have her way, before they argue and after two hours she will have her way anyhow.

"I'm pregnant" Bulma said, watching closely for any expression on his face, which would reveal how he felt.

While he tried to keep a stoic face, he failed to; he just felt hurt. This pain was something new, unexpected any very powerful. Did she seriously came here to tell him that she was sleeping around with some guy possibly from Earth? Sure, she wasn't her mate, but wasn't she the one, who stated that she loved him? Or did she finally see how this, whatever they had, could never possibly work out and decided to choose a possible mate? He shouldn't really feel angry about it, with time he will do the same; he will take a saiyan woman as his mate. Still, the fact that she decided to end it first, hurt. He recalled her conversation with Karris from a few days ago "_Being in love, when it cannot possibly end well… there is nothing more painful!_" The pain he felt was unexpectedly powerful and he had to restrain himself not to grab her arm and shake her. Because despite everything, he didn't want to hurt her; truthfully he was unable to hurt her. As this also hit him and he knew it was the truth, he looked at her like he was seeing her for the first time. Finally after what seemed like forever for both of them, he asked on a neutral voice:

"And I should care, why?"

She looked at him, like he just slapped her and that was strange, even from her. What kind of response did she expect?

"You know what? I'm not sure that you should care!" She answered felling how her voice began to rise. "I just felt that I have to tell you, because you are the father, but…"

"What?" He asked and this time he grabbed her, preventing her to leave as she was just about to do so.

Bulma froze as she looked at her shocked face. It was like her words only sunk in now. Or… was he thinking that she was pregnant with somebody's else child? Why would he think something like that? She loved him, she even told him that, so…

"Don't tell me you thought that I was with somebody else?" She asked, testing her theory.

"Of course you were! Maybe you are not aware, but saiyans cannot conceive children with other races!"

"I knew that obviously, but it seems like humans are the exception to that rule, because I was never with anybody else, I never even wanted to be, so do the math; you are the father dammit!"

Again, as unlikely as it sounded, Vegeta could see that she was telling the truth. Yet, what she stated was preposterous, wasn't it? How the hell did she knew at all, that she was with a child? He let go of her arm and placed his palm on her belly, trying to sense the Ki. Even though the foetus might be very small, it already has to have a Ki, as every living creature had one. First he felt nothing, then as he was about to give it up, there was something. He checked it, felt it with his mind and there was no doubt anymore; it was a second Ki coming from her body. As he opened his eye and removed his hand, he met her agonised look.

"You _are_ pregnant" He whispered.

It wasn't really for her sake that he confirmed it, it was like he needed to hear his own voice, stating this fact in order to believe it.

"You could already feel his Ki?" She asked and she sounded excited.

He nodded, not quite trusting his voice to answer. She kept meeting his look and waited for him to say something, say anything, but he remained silent. Finally she spoke up:

"I'm aware, that you never expected this to happen and that _this_, whatever we do, doesn't mean anything to you…"

She couldn't finish the sentence as he silenced her with his kiss. First, she wanted to object, but her resistant faded almost instantly as he run his hand up her leg. While her head was full with questions, she couldn't really concentrate on any of them; she just felt as the passion grew inside her and she wanted to be with him. This time was the best time from all and she felt really happy. As they lied there next to each other, satisfied and tired, he finally said:

"You are mine now, I took you as my mate!"

"But how? I mean you also told me, that can never happen, so what changed so suddenly?" She asked, leaning her head on her arm, watching his face from close up.

"I… I couldn't possibly take somebody as my mate, who cannot give me heirs. Now that this issue is settled, I took you."

Even though it was semi-dark, Bulma could see that he blushed. Wow, it was a long time ago, that she was able to make him feel embarrassed! But why did he change his mind so suddenly? Was he doing it so, because his unborn child?

"You don't have to make me your mate, out of obligation…" She said.

While she was happy and for an instance it felt like her dreams were come true, she wanted to clear something up. Maybe she was too greedy, but she had no intention forcing herself on him.

"I'm the Prince of all saiyans; I can do, whatever I want and I _want_ you to be my mate!" He grunted.

That's when Bulma lost it, and she couldn't restrain herself any longer. This almost sounded like a love confession from him and while he was too proud and too stubborn to say it out more openly; he just told her, that he loved her. She quickly turned away, trying to prevent him from seeing her tears. However he noticed her sudden change in mood and he rolled her back on her back. He was taken aback by her tears, it was the first time he had seen her cry.

"Why are you crying?" He asked.

"It's nothing" She answered and wanted to turn away, but he pinned her down.

"Are you hurt?"

This time beyond annoyance she could also detect worry in his voice. It turned out he was not such an insensitive, heartless person after all.

"I'm happy!" She answered. "I'm crying because I'm so happy that I cannot bear it."

With that said, she pulled him down on her and kissed him with so much passion, that it even topped her usual attitude, when they were together.

**So they are finally together; it took them long enough though **** Still… this is not the end of the story yet; look for the new chapter soon!**


	16. Chapter 15 - Epilogue

**When I finished the previous chapter, I was considering leaving the story like that. Then I thought it would be unfair not to end the war in one way or the other; hence here is what I came up with.**

Chapter 15

Epilogue

**V**egeta was on his knees, trying to get up, waiting for the pain to subdue a bit. He coughed and felt the familiar salty taste of blood in his mouth. He was on a deserted planet right next to Vegetasei, facing Freeza. He was on his way to destroy Vegetasei, but they stopped him and now, they were trying to take him down. Most of the saiyans had no chance against him; even the elite fighters appeared to be powerless as he reached his final form. By now only two saiyans were standing; Kakarott and he. As he looked at them fighting, he could see that just like he himself, Kakarott was also losing. Freeza was just too strong. For a while, they thought they can take him down, even on their own, but now… now they were not so sure. Kakarott learned the instant transmission recently and he managed to get back the wounded on Vegetasei, but moving between the two planets has taken out some from his energy. As for himself, he had to distract Freeza while the rescue was ongoing and as Bardock was the only other fighter who could use the technique, it took them forever to evacuate the place. How did it come to this? He never expected him to be so mighty; his soldiers were nothing but a joke, apart from maybe Zarbon. But since they took him down almost 2 years ago, their strength increased a lot. By now, Kakarott was 18 and he ended up being a tall warrior with incredible skills. Much to Vegeta's own dismay, he was more than a head taller. Just like he, Kakarott took a woman from Earth as a mate and now she was just about to give birth to their first child. Vegeta's son was by now more than one year old and so far it looked like he will be a formidable fighter, despite being only a demi-saiyan. He was hoping to get back to them soon, but as things looked now, it was doubtful he will ever return. Just then, to emphasise the situation, Kakarott ended up, crashing to the ground next to him. He tried to recall, how long ago the fight started, but he completely lost his sense of time. Even so, he was sure, he never even trained for so long without a break, let alone fight against such a mighty enemy. His muscles were aching and he was also slightly out of breath. It seemed like it was only his willpower, what kept him on his legs. He was stubborn and giving up was never an option for him, but now he wasn't so sure he will come out of this alive.

**K**akarott never felt so much pain, as he did now. There was not a single point in his body, which wasn't hurting like hell. Yet, he had to go on; there was no other choice. He thought they were prepared, that whoever this Freeza was, they can take him. If nothing else, he should have been able to kill him, working together with Vegeta. By now, they were almost equals; the two most powerful saiyans ever alive, yet they appeared weak and pathetic next to the tyrant. Suddenly he remembered on last night, when he said goodbye with Chichi and he felt a pang of guilt. When he realised a few years ago, what he promised her when they first met, he wasn't so sure, that it was the best idea. However, saiyans were not liars, especially not him, hence he mated her. It turned out unexpectedly well and he was happy with her. He couldn't wait until his son will be born; Vegeta's and Bulma's son was exceptionally strong and he hoped his son will have similar abilities. Not because he wanted him to become the ruler of the universe, but because he hoped, that one day he will help him protecting those, who needed help. By now, even though Vegeta never said it, he was sure, he would never order the saiyans again to clean out planets and sell them. The Prince changed a lot and it was a common knowledge that once the war was over, King Vegeta will resign and Prince Vegeta will take over the throne. Right now though, they have to win in order to make all this happen. He felt Vegeta's Ki and knew he was nearly depleted, just like he. They both used up most of their energies and Kakarott was aware, that soon, he won't even be able to stand up, when he will crash into the ground.

"Stupid monkeys, I will kill you both, but before that, I will blow up your damn planet in front of your eyes!" Freeza shouted and while he laughed, he began to create an energy bomb.

Kakarott and Vegeta exchanged a look; they were aware that they were at the end of their powers, yet they struggled to get up. Seeing their effort, Freeza laughed once again, while the energy ball began to grow.

Vegeta again thought about Bulma and Trunks; failing here would not just result to his own death, but it would mean their ends as well. By now he wasn't surprised how outraged he became, as he thought about losing them. Kakarott had similar thought about Chichi and his unborn child, but he also knew that once the saiyans fail, once he fails, there will be nobody left, who could stop Freeza and he will kill more races as the saiyans ever had. Faces from the colonies appeared in front of his eyes; people who accepted him, despite his saiyan origins and who by now also accepted his whole race. If not for the saiyans, they would be all dead. Fate had a sick sense of humour as it seemed; it made the saiyans from killers to protectors; the hope of the universe. As he exchanged a look with Vegeta again, he saw the same: "They cannot die, there was just too much on stake!" Both of their uniforms were torn, even the armour was in pieces, which was the most durable material in the universe for combat gears. Vegeta again thought about dying; it was the first time in his life that he seriously considered, that a fight might cost his life. He felt trapped, powerless, yet desperate enough to keep going. He bit his teeth together and balled his firsts, ready to launch a new attack.

Suddenly as images of burning planet surfaced in their minds, their rage became overwhelming and they turned to super saiyan at the same time, causing Freeza to crash into a rock behind him, just due the wind caused by their flaring Ki. At the same time, Freeza dropped the not yet ready energy ball and it hit him full in the chest.

"What the hell is this?" He asked as he climbed out from the rocks.

"Meet the living legend of the saiyans; the super saiyans!" Vegeta cried out with a smirk.

He has heard so many stories about the warrior, who will be born with a power so imaginable that everybody will fall to their knees in front of him. While he would have preferred becoming the legend alone, he wasn't so shocked that Kakarott reached the same level along with him. Somehow it appeared to him, as he (despite being a low class warrior at the beginning) was destined to become the strongest from their race. Years ago he would have wanted to kill him for that, for ascending to the same level as he, the Prince did, but somehow during the years Kakarott really proved himself.

Kakarott never felt so powerful in his life, it was like his Ki increased with 50 fold and it was surging through his body. He felt like, there was nothing what he couldn't do and nobody could possibly be powerful enough to take him.

This power was something, what none of them ever experienced before, it was a power level, which seemed impossible to reach. Suddenly the pain also went away and while their injuries remained, they felt like they were charged up again and nobody could stop them. It was almost a god-like power, making them unstoppable. As Vegeta looked around, he saw that his Ki was overflowing from his body, creating a golden light around him. The air become hot, it burned his skin, yet it felt nice. His muscles expanded and even his senses seemed sharper. He could smell Freeza's fear in the air and he saw small perspirations appear on his forehead. He heard how his breathing was also ragged, even though they were at least 20 meters away from him. It was like the world suddenly changed and he entered a new dimension. As he looked at Kakarott, he was shocked how much his appearance changed and he wondered for a brief second, whether he also changed so drastically. The strangest thing was, that the cause and the source of this power seemed to come from his outrage what he felt thinking about losing his family and his home. While he changed a lot, since he met Bulma and it just got more intense since Trunks was born, he only know began to gasp the full meaning of having them. It wasn't the tradition; but what was? So many things changed over the last years that he lost track of the saiyan way. Peculiarly he wasn't even sorry for it. The way his race lived was clearly wrong; they almost died out by trying to rule the universe. What for? What purpose would it serve to rule, when it would cost his folk? Freeza almost killed them, but without some serious change in thinking, they would have died out anyway within a few decades. Yet, it wasn't too late for a change! While their numbers decreased alarmingly, even with the war raging, they had only minor casualties. They can come out of their mistakes alive and stronger then ever.

Vegeta attacked Freeza the same time as Kakarott and soon the mighty tyrant was on his knees, begging for his life. Neither of the saiyans, even considered letting him off the hook; he had to pay for his actions and he had to die in order for the others to survive. The two super saiyans stopped in front of him, raised their hands in union and delivered the final blow at the same time, defeating Freeza once and for all.

**B**ulma was in the laboratory, sitting on the couch with Chichi, Chessa and Karris. They all knew what was at stake and they could only hope that Kakarott and Vegeta will claim victory at the end. Trunks was sitting in front of them with Malva, and they were playing on a huge rug with toys, invented by Bulma. Malva was Karris' daughter, who just celebrated her first birthday. It appeared that Karris managed to mate Chessa after all and Bulma was really proud that she could help them in order to find each other. Even though Karris was just a 3rd class, Malva proved to be much powerful, her powers reaching those of the 2nd class. With just two demi-saiyans it was hard to tell whether the higher power level was due to the fact that they were part human part saiyan, but one thing was sure; their human half never caused any decrease in their powers. As Chichi watched the two children playing, she unconsciously placed her hand on her belly. Much to her surprise when they agreed on a name with Kakarott, he actually came up with a human name; Gohan. He was the man, who found Kakarott in the forest all those years ago and who decided to take him in. He was the first human, Kakarott ended up killing, when he first changed to his Oozaru form.

Karris felt Chessa's hand on his and he grabbed it thankfully. He was even more on edge as the others, as he felt useless. While he really loved his work as a scientist and he never enjoyed fighting, he couldn't help but think that maybe one additional warrior could make a difference. He should have been out there, fighting against Freeza and his troops, not just sitting here and waiting for his fate to be decided. It was amazing how Chessa felt that he was anxious, without him saying a word about it. He never thought that a relationship such as this could even exist. This understanding was unbelievable and strange among saiyans.

**S**uddenly Radditz appeared with the news, that the saiyans are evacuated from the planet, leaving Kakarott and Vegeta on their own, to take down Freeza. As the number of healing tanks were limited, the healers decided to priories the most injured ones, while tried to help the rest in the traditional way. Bulma decided to help out, if for nothing else, this could help her take of her mind from the possible future. She was worried for Vegeta and the thought of losing him was unbearable. She loved him so much and they overcame so many problems together, that it wouldn't be fair to end like this. She knew that he was strong and he wouldn't give up and Kakarott was with him! She was also worried about him; after all they were friends and she also cared about him.

"Princess, you really don't have to do this!" Bardock called as she bandaged his arm.

"Bardock, how many times do I have to tell you, not to call me that? There is no need to be so formal all the time."

"But…"

"No buts; just call me Bulma, all right?"

Truthfully when Vegeta appointed her as his mate aka the Princess, most of the saiyans had no objections against it. It wasn't because they respected her (though most of them did as she invented a lot of useful things over the year), but because saiyans never questioned the authority of the royal family. They were willingly going along with it and from one day to the other, Bulma became a Princess from being a slave. Still, she decided to continue working in the lab, as this was indeed her passion and she enjoyed it. In time, the slaves also adjusted to the new situation and there were discussions going on to let them leave if they want or in case they decide to leave, give them payment. This result cost Bulma countless argument with Vegeta, but at the end she proved her point. In case they win the war, Vegetasei will be the most secure planet in the universe in there was a high probability that some members from other planets might willingly come here and work for them, knowing that their lives will be secure. She came such a long way with Vegeta and she never even dreamed that she could be so happy with him. Sure, he was still a jerk sometimes and their fierce arguments never stopped, but he was trying hard. While first he found it strange that Bulma intended to care for Trunks after his birth, instead of giving him to the slaves (who took care of the babies and young children) he began to see what being a parent really meant. It wasn't just about blood; it was much more. As she remembered the first time she pushed Trunks into his arms and recalled his confused face, she had to laugh, causing that several saiyans looked at her questioningly.

**F**inally, when Kakarott managed to get him and Vegeta back on Vegetasei with instant transmission, everybody was overjoyed as they learned that Freeza was no more. Chichi jumped into Kakarott's arms almost making him fall, while Bulma wasn't exactly sure what to do as she walked to Vegeta. She would have followed Chichi's example, but she knew that regardless how much the Prince changed, he was not fond of the display of affection in public. Still, much to her shock, he was the one who pulled her close, holding her in a tight hug. Bulma never would have dreamed that her life will turn out like this and it will be a happy ending. Vegeta on the other hand, never assumed that his view regarding the world could change so much, that the girl in her ragged clothes, who helped him on Aoi-sei, will turn his world upside down. As he held Trunks a few minutes later and he was smiling at him, he smiled back for a split second, glad that he managed to get back to them and save them.

**Thank you all for following this story and especially thank you for those, who also left reviews which helped me to improve my writing skills. For those, who never left any reviews; here is your last chance to do so :D**

**I really hope it was worth to take this journey with me and that you are not upset that it has to end here. I know that many of the readers already checked out my other stories as well; but those who haven't – here is the possibility.**

**I have no idea what will come next; heck I wasn't even planning to write a new BV story after my previous ones, until this idea hit me. I'm playing with some One-Shot ideas (nothing solid yet) and thinking about co-writing something with somebody (what I have never done before and sounds fun).**

**I hope to "see" you soon! :)**


End file.
